Receivers at Deloitte & Touche of SIV Porfolio, formerly known as Cheyne Finance, put up assets with a face value of $1.8bn for auction this week.

The assets auctioned from the $7bn (£3.5bn) SIV drew bids that would pay only 44 cents in the dollar if investors opted for a cash exit from the vehicle. The benchmark auction held on thursday gave investors little comfort to the prospects of recovering cash from the troubled structured investment vehicles that have been at the heart of the credit crunch.

Eleven investment banks took part in the auction. Any assets sold are likely to go to more than one investment bank.

Creditors in SIV Portfolio have been struggling for nearly a year to recover their investments.