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Jan 24 (Reuters) - A writedown of ordinary bank bonds would lower the rating of Western banks, a leading analyst at credit agency Fitch was quoted as saying in a Dutch newspaper on Thursday.
Bridget Gandy, Fitch's co-head of credit rating for European banks, said that such a rating downgrade would be because of the disappearance of implicit state guarantees on bank bonds.
Ordinary bonds have the highest priority in getting paid back when a company goes bankrupt. Lower-ranked bonds, such as subordinated bonds, contain greater risk of not being repaid in full.
"If an important country in Europe writes down ordinary bonds of a problematic bank, it means a complete change of how we look at banks," said in Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
Some Dutch politicians have argued for a writedown of ordinary bonds of troubled Dutch banking and insurance group SNS Reaal, the paper said.
SNS Reaal, which received Dutch state aid in 2008, is widely expected to require a second bailout because of problems at its property unit and is due to come up with a restructuring plan when it reports its earnings next month.
Fitch could not immediately comment.
"We say now that the chance is 99.5 percent that the government supports ordinary bond holders. If this assumption proves to be wrong you should no longer look at banks' current rating but at their viability rating," Gandy was quoted as saying, without specifically referring to SNS Reaal.
A viability rating, which indicates a credit judgment without implicit state guarantees, is usually two notches lower for big banks than current ratings, the paper said.
Qlc che ha accesso ai report non è che posta qlc altro di banche non di parte?Su sns Bnp è di parte
Bridget Gandy, Fitch's co-head of credit rating for European banks, said that such a rating downgrade would be because of the disappearance of implicit state guarantees on bank bonds.
Ordinary bonds have the highest priority in getting paid back when a company goes bankrupt. Lower-ranked bonds, such as subordinated bonds, contain greater risk of not being repaid in full.
"If an important country in Europe writes down ordinary bonds of a problematic bank, it means a complete change of how we look at banks," said in Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
Some Dutch politicians have argued for a writedown of ordinary bonds of troubled Dutch banking and insurance group SNS Reaal, the paper said.
SNS Reaal, which received Dutch state aid in 2008, is widely expected to require a second bailout because of problems at its property unit and is due to come up with a restructuring plan when it reports its earnings next month.
Fitch could not immediately comment.
"We say now that the chance is 99.5 percent that the government supports ordinary bond holders. If this assumption proves to be wrong you should no longer look at banks' current rating but at their viability rating," Gandy was quoted as saying, without specifically referring to SNS Reaal.
A viability rating, which indicates a credit judgment without implicit state guarantees, is usually two notches lower for big banks than current ratings, the paper said.
Qlc che ha accesso ai report non è che posta qlc altro di banche non di parte?Su sns Bnp è di parte
