Topic: Credit Ratings

With Japan awash in cheap funding provided by domestic savings and local banks continuing to park their cash in government bonds, analysts tell CNBC the country faces no urgency in dealing with its rising public debt, despite the latest ratings cut by Fitch.

Japan's sovereign rating was cut by one notch by Fitch on Tuesday as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday and Spanish banks suffered a double blow as 16 had their credit ratings cut by Moody's.

Up to 20 of Europe’s top banks will on Wednesday discuss a plan to foil the dominance of the much criticized big three credit agencies at a private meeting of finance directors in Frankfurt. The FT reports.

Credit rating agency Fitch put the whole of the euro zone on notice on Friday that were Greece to leave the currency bloc as a result of its current crisis, the remaining countries could find their sovereign ratings at risk.

The US bank says it would have to post $5.1 billion in collateral under derivatives contracts if major ratings agencies decide to downgrade its debt by two notches.

Ratings agency Fitch is not likely to downgrade the credit ratings of the U.S. before the November elections but the world’s biggest economy definitely needs to tackle its debt problem, Paul Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Fitch Group, told CNBC on Friday.

Japan is in danger of slipping from its AA- credit rating if public debt continues to rise and if reforms are held up as its unpopular government struggles to get support for tax measures, debt watcher Standard & Poor's said on Thursday.

Hedge fund managers make for unlikely supporters of François Hollande, the French socialist presidential candidate, the Financial Times reports.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services announced on Monday that it had lowered the credit rating of 16 Spanish banks. The downgrade came ahead of an announcement of Spain’s first quarter GDP figures, which showed the country had fallen back into recession.

Standard & Poor’s ratings agency denied on Friday it had not taken into account the recent reforms Spain had announced when it downgraded the country for the second time this year, saying Spain’s weaker-than-expected economic outlook and rising risks in the banking system had added to concerns and prompted the downgrade.

U.S. securities regulators charged credit-rating firm Egan-Jones and its president, Sean Egan, on Tuesday with making material misrepresentations to the agency in a 2008 regulatory application.

To foreign bondholders of Fosun International, concerns seem to be growing around the business prospects of the Chinese industrial conglomerate.

An analyst at credit rating agency Fitch has warned the Netherlands risks a potential "negative rating action" due to a rise in the country's debt, the Daily Telegraph reported late on Wednesday.

With the financial industry recovering and fee income reduced by new regulations, lenders are seeking to woo back less creditworthy borrowers. The New York Times reports.