Bangkok--15 Jun--Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings says today that ratings in the CLO sector were stable in 2009, with no upgrades or downgrades occurring during the year.
"The CLO sector in Asia-Pacific was stable in 2009 due to adequate levels of surplus credit enhancement," said Kate Lin, Associate Director in Fitch's Asia-Pacific SF team. "This was especially true at the senior level."
The cumulative default rate in the CLO sector has been low, with a maximum of only 0.6% as of May 2010. Positively, most portfolios have amortised significantly, with higher credit enhancement levels resulting for all tranches.
Important exclusions from the 2009 study include CDOs where assets are not predominantly located within Asia-Pacific. All such CDOs have been reclassified according to the region where the majority of assets are located, and are included in Fitch's global SF transition and default study.
More details on rating activity in the region over the period 1998 to 2009 by geography and product, as well as a brief summary of rating actions so far in 2010 and the agency's outlook in key areas for the remainder of the year can be found in the report, entitled '2009 Asia-Pacific Structured Finance Transition and Default Study and H210 Performance Outlook', available on the agency's public website www.fitchratings.com.
Contacts: Kate Lin, Hong Kong, +852 2263 9912; Alison Ho, +852 2263 9937.
Media Relations: Leslie Tan, Singapore, Tel: +65 67 96 7234, Email:
[email protected].
Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.