S&P: BofA and WaMu Covered Bonds on CreditWatch Negative

Standard & Poor's Ratings Service announced Jan. 13 that it has placed two covered bond programs sponsored by U.S. banks on CreditWatch Negative.

The programs are BA Covered Bond Issuer (sponsored by Bank of America) and WM Covered Bond Program (originally sponsored by Washington Mutual and currently sponsored by JP Morgan).

S&P's announcement stated that last month (Dec. 16) it had listed the ratings for those programs in a media release placing all bond series issued under those programs on CreditWatch negative.  That release largely consisted of a long list of rating actions including most covered bond programs rated by S&P, taken as a result of S&P's new criteria for assessing asset-liability risk. 

The Dec. 16 release listed the long-term rating of both U.S. bank covered bonds programs as changed from 'AAA' to 'AAA/Watch Neg."

According to S&P's Jan. 13 announcement, however, the Dec. 16 rating actions with regard to BA Covered Bond Issuer and WM Covered Bond Program were not reflected in S&P's database because of a data entry error.

To read the text of S&P's Jan. 13 announcement, first log in (free) at www.standardandpoors.com, then click here.