Bank of New York (BoNY) is continuing to use the bear market to pick up assets complementary to its core business. The latest item in the bargain bin: Credit Suisse First Boston Corp.'s Pershing unit.

BoNY picked the unit up for $2 billion plus the agreement to pay off $480 million of subordinated debt, according to the Wall Street Journal. Word the Pershing was on the block first leaked out in mid-November. At the time, BoNY was one of three firms reportedly interested in the unit. The others reported at the time were Fidelity and Bear Stearns.

Pershing currently clears 10 percent of the trades on the NYSE. By picking up the business, BoNY becomes the largest clearer for the exchange. Bear Stearns had ranked first with 12 percent of the market.  

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