This is a very curious one. According to one widely held theory, the Chinese financial system is supposed to be near to collapse, with bad debt and non-performing loans rife accross the board. This news seems to offer another picture, with rating agencies upgrading, and investors comfortable with Chinese government debt. Undoutedly somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
China made a spectacular return to the international bond markets on Wednesday with a combination $1.5bn dollar and euro-denominated issue at prices very close to those achieved by western government agencies. The strength of the country's foreign currency reserves means that China has no need for the extra funding, but the response to the issue demonstrates investors' appetite for Chinese debt. The issue of a "benchmark" government bond will also make it easier for Chinese companies to tap the global bond markets.
The issue came shortly after Moody's Investors Service, one of the top three rating agencies, boosted China's sovereign rating one notch from A3 to A2.
The 10-year $1bn dollar portion was offered at 53 basis points over US treasuries and the five-year E400m euro tranche at seven basis points above Euribor, the rate at which European banks lend to each other. The market had expected yields to be two and three basis points higher respectively. The spread is the lowest-ever for an Asian issuer apart from Japan, with the dollar tranche priced roughly at the same level as that of US agencies, which have an implicit government guarantee. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two federal agencies that fund US mortgages, were trading yesterday at 48 basis points and 53.25 basis points over US Treasuries.
Source: Financial Times
LINK
1 comment:
The deceitful actions of the international credit rating agencies have resulted in the introduction of the following United States Senate Concurrent Resolution 78:
http://globalsecuritieswatch.org/S.Con.Res.78.pdf
For your possible interest, here are a few links to relevant background information:
http://globalsecuritieswatch.org/S_Con_Resolution_78_P_R_v.5.1.pdf
and
http://www.globalsecuritieswatch.org/world-news.pdf
See also:
http://globalsecuritieswatch.org/Chris_Dodd_Letter_Final.pdf
The Big Three rating agencies knowingly continue to maintain demonstrably false ratings which are in flagrant violation of settled international law. Here is a link to an article which exposes the intentional and self-serving misapplication of published metrics and published criteria by the three largest credit rating agencies:
http://www.globalsecuritieswatch.org/SEC_Conference_Brief.pdf
And one more:
http://www.mywire.com/pubs/PRNewswire/2005/07/25/943034?&pbl=15
Here is a question to ask SEC Chairman Christopher Cox: What is the SEC's duty in instances (e.g., China) where the rating agencies knowingly depart from their published criteria (e.g., see definitions of rating classifications, esp. "Selective Default") and their published metrics (e.g., evaluation of a debtor's willingness to repay debt) and assign a contrived sovereign credit rating which has the force of law and misstates the credit risk to investors purchasing full faith and credit sovereign obligations of the Chinese Government?
Best Regards,
Larry Knight
Post a Comment