U.S. public finance exhibited growing credit strength in 2015, albeit at a slower rate than in 2014. Upgrades outpaced downgrades in every quarter for the second straight year, but the sector recorded more defaults last year than in 2014. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Senior Director Larry Witte provides a looks at the sector’s overall ratings performance last year.

On April 29 2016, S&P Global Ratings upgrade German-based Franz Haniel to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BB+’. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Associate Carole Missoudan explains the reasons for this upgrade as well as the underlying strengths and weaknesses supporting the rating.

The counterparty instrument rating (CIR) addresses an issuer's capacity to meet its financial obligations to a counterparty in a securitization such as a swap or bank account. In this CMTV, Managing Director Jon Manley discusses CIR and where we believe most of the interest will be.

According to our analysis of 58 sovereigns, structural reforms and budgetary consolidation should also contribute to long-term sustainability of public finance. Nevertheless, in absence of further policy action, sovereign ratings would likely come under downward pressure.

Segun nuestro analisis de 58 soberanos, las reformas de los sistemas de pensiones puestas en marcha en los últimos años y la consolidación presupuestaria deberian ayudar a sostener las finanzas públicas a largo plazo. Sin embargo, en ausencia de medidas adicionales, las calificaciones soberanas estaran bajo presión en el futuro.

S&P Global Ratings publicó un artículo reciente sobre el impacto que tendría la actual perspectiva negativa del sector petróleo y gas natural sobre los bancos colombianos. En este segmento de CreditMatters TV, Alfredo Calvo, Director, explica como esta situación podría afectar las métricas de calidad de activos bancarios.

In this segment, Managing Director Bob Schulz discusses the trends shaping these industries and reviews the rating actions we recently took on various companies.

Covering noteworthy research produced by S&P Global Ratings analysts in the region, "Latin America Monday Morning RoundUp" provides investors with a quick credit overview to start their week. Associate Antonio Zellek hosts this weekly segment of CreditMatters TV.

A recent S&P Global Ratings’ article discusses the impact that the current negative perspective in the oil & gas sector, namely low energy prices, could have on Colombian banks. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Director Alfredo Calvo explains how the situation could affect banks’ asset quality.

S&P Global Ratings maintained 1,090 public finance ratings in Illinois as of April 11, 2016, 83% of which lie in the local and state government segment. About 94% of the ratings fall in the ‘A’ category or higher. In this CreditMatters TV video, Senior Director Larry Witte provides a big picture look at how the ratings distribution in the state shakes out.