Building Society credit ratings (Fitch)

baby_boomer

The Times - Can you trust your building society?

Building society credit ratings

Nationwide AA-

Coventry A
Leeds A
Skipton A (but placed on "rating watch")

Britannia A-
Norwich&Peterborough: A-
Yorkshire A-

Chelsea:BBB+
Newcastle:BBB+
Principality:BBB+
West Bromwich:BBB+

What the ratings mean
AAA:highest credit quality.
AA:very high credit quality.
A:high credit quality.
BBB:good credit quality.
BB:speculative.
B:highly speculative.
CCC:substantial credit risk

The Times reiterates the importance of the FSCS £50K limit but also suggests that waiting for your money in the event of a BS getting into trouble could be worth avoiding.

In March, unusually, savers collectively withdrew £196m from BSs (although the BSs have hitherto been beneficiaries of our worries about the financial system).

The Times points out that West Brom & Principality have been among those whio recently have had to offer top rates to get in the money. [I noticed MSE highlighting the West Brom 4.27% Fixed Rate.]

And the time of uncertainty is not over, according to ex-BSA Chairman John Goodfellow.

"...“The development of the sector over the next 18 months will be challenging. No one can foretell that a similar episode [the government rescuing Dunfermline] will not happen again...."

At the recent BSA annual shindig, Goodfellow had warned societies not to talk to the press or their members about their relative financial strengths.

apt

Can you trust the rating agencies?

baby_boomer

Maybe not. But you can't trust the societies.

baby_boomer wrote: »

At the recent BSA annual shindig, Goodfellow had warned societies not to talk to the press or their members about their relative financial strengths.

opinions4u

apt wrote: »

Can you trust the rating agencies?

Well HBOS was certainly in the As the day it collapsed lol.

agsnu

Landsbanki was rated A until 30th September 2008, less than a week before it collapsed.

hotkee

Is there a rating for the FSA and the government?
Negative something in my opinion and not rising....

baby_boomer

I take the point about the ratings agencies and their past failure.

But wasn't it partly the case that back then they didn't know what to look out for? And now they do, so they are asking tougher questions both of themselves and of lenders? [Pathetic excuse, I know.]

Obviously no-one has a crystal ball on the UK housing and commercial property market, but some loans and therefore some institutions are relatively riskier then others, whether or not these risks ever lead to something more serious.

baby_boomer

Telegraph link - You know part of the building society sector is screwed when the Daily Telegraph advocates state intervention to save it

withnell

hotkee wrote: »

Is there a rating for the FSA and the government?
Negative something in my opinion and not rising....

I think government bonds are still triple A rated