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Link only: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-29/moody-s-warns-cities-to-address-climate-risks-or-face-downgrades

Beijing's need to deliver on official growth targets is likely to make the economy increasingly reliant on stimulus, Moody's said. "While ongoing progress on reforms is likely to transform the economy and financial system over time, it is not likely to prevent a further material rise in economy-wide debt, and the consequent increase in contingent liabilities for the government," it said. While the downgrade is likely to modestly increase the cost of borrowing for the Chinese government and its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), it remains comfortably within the investment grade rating range. World stocks inched lower after the move, though Shanghai's...

As City Hall prepares to borrow $1.2 billion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked a Wall Street debt ratings agency that’s been highly critical of Chicago’s finances to withdraw its evaluation of city creditworthiness, the administration disclosed Tuesday. The mayor contends that the junk status placed on the city’s debt by Moody’s Investors Service drives up borrowing costs covered by taxpayers and does not reflect the steps he has taken to fix the city’s finances. “It has become increasingly clear that Moody’s rating methodology and agenda are far from objective and independent,” Emanuel wrote to Raymond McDaniel Jr., president and CEO...

While India may have signed a deal Friday with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation SA for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, credit analyst firm Moody’s Investors Service expects U.S. fighter jet makers like The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) to begin more aggressively pursuing India as a sales opportunity. As Moody’s aerospace and defense analyst Russell Solomon told me Wednesday, India likely isn’t done buying fighters. Even if India decides to exercise an option against the Rafale contract for 18 more, in the next five to 10 years Solomon said, “Somewhere between another...

Moody’s has downgraded Turkey’s credit rating to “junk” status, a further blow to an economy shaken by terrorist attacks, a failed military coup and a diplomatic spat with Russia. The rating agency on Friday lowered its rating on Turkey’s debt one notch, stripping it of investment-grade status. The move could mean higher borrowing costs as investors demand steeper interest rates to take on riskier Turkish debt. …

Alaska’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s Investors Services, in the midst of its multi-billion-dollar deficit. Moody’s dropped the Last Frontier’s general obligation rating from Aa1 to Aa2. The outlook remains negative, according to the bond credit rating business. This marks the 49th State’s third credit decline from leading global credit rating agencies, that includes downgrades by Standard and Poor’s Rating Services and Fitch Ratings. ... In addition, Moody’s downgraded Alaska’s lease-appropriation bonds to Aa3 from Aa2, along with its moral obligation bonds to A1 from Aa3. These two bonds are consistently ranked one to two grades lower than the...

Credit rating agency Moody's has lowered Britain's credit outlook to 'negative' from 'stable' in the wake of the country voting to leave the European Union.Following the Brexit vote, it said Britain's economic growth will be weaker and warned the public finances will be weaker than previously forecast, meaning it will be harder to cut the deficit. A negative outlook means there is a greater danger of a country being downgraded. It is three years since Moody's cut Britain's AAA rating. It currently has the UK on AA+, the second highest rating.It said: 'During the several years in which the UK will have to...

Saudi Arabia's credit rating has been downgraded by Moody's because of the long and deep slump in oil prices. Moody's Investors Service said Saturday that it also downgraded Gulf oil producers Bahrain and Oman. It left ratings unchanged for other Gulf states including Kuwait and Qatar. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter. Moody's cut the country's long-term issuer rating one notch to A1 from Aa3 after a review that began in March.

Illinois' budget war took another whack out of the state's credit rating today as Moody's Investors Service lowered its review of state debt, moving it to Baa1 from A3. And the firm said its outlook on the state is negative—often a sign that another downgrade is coming in a few months. "The downgrades reflect weakening of the state's financial position during 2015 and our expectation that an ongoing budget stalemate will lead to further deterioration," Moody's said in a statement. ... In bumping Illinois' debt to three levels above junk, Moody's followed the lead of Fitch Ratings, which took a...

Last month, in "Cities, States Shun Moody's For Blowing The Whistle On Pension Liabilities," we highlighted a rift between Moody’s and some local governments over the return assumptions for public pension plans. To recap, when it comes to underfunded pension liabilities, one major concern is that in a world characterized by ZIRP and NIRP, it’s not entirely clear that public pension funds are using realistic investment return assumptions. The lower the return assumption, the larger the unfunded liability. After 2008, Moody’s stopped relying on the investment return assumptions of cities and states opting instead to use its own models....

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the debt of both the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District on Wednesday, a day after it downgraded the city’s bond rating to junk status. Moody’s has given a Ba3 rating to the school district’s debt, down from a Baa3 rating, saying the district faces “increased strain on its precarious financial position” due to last week’s Illinois Supreme Court decision overturning state pension reform. It reduced the Chicago Park District’s rating to from Baa1 to Ba1, one notch below investment grade. The rating service’s moves affect the school district’s $6.2 billion in general obligation...

Over the weekend we talked about the Illinois state supreme court decision which effectively terminated any effort to reform the state’s collapsing public worker union pension system and how it was endangering the future stability of the Land of Lincoln. The city of Chicago has the exact same problems, though on a more localized level. With debts in the hundreds of billions of dollars and tax rates which are already driving away businesses and residents alike, the iron grip of the unions on not just the legislature, but the state constitution itself is turning into an albatross around the...

Chicago has a simple financial choice: Stay in frying pan or get in the fire. That in simple terms is what Moody's Investors Service said in a report today about the difficult options the Emanuel administration faces over the city's woefully underfunded pension funds. The city must cut spending and raise taxes now or the risks of becoming insolvent will grow, forcing even harsher decisions later. The credit rating agency offers a sobering reminder of what's at stake in the eight-page report, which focuses on the pensions problems. ... A CUT ABOVE JUNK. Moody's, typically the most conservative of the...

ities: The problem with socialism, Margaret Thatcher once noted, is you eventually run out of other people's money. In progressive Chicago, that's hit home as Moody's has cut its credit rating to two grades above "junk." Chicago's finances are staggering under the weight of an unfunded pension liability that Moody's Investors Service has estimated at $32 billion, eight times the city's operating revenue. Chicago has a $300 million structural deficit. And Illinois law requires the city to up its 2016 contributions to its police and fire pension funds by $550 million. "This is an unfortunate wake-up call for anyone still...

The debt-plagued city of Chicago took another financial blow late Thursday when Moody's Investors Service downgraded the city's debt rating, citing its overwhelming pension burden. Even if recent state pension changes survive a court challenge, the ratings statement said, "we expect Chicago's unfunded pension liabilities — and the costs of servicing those liabilities — to continue to grow, placing significant strain on the city's financial operations." The drop, to a rating of Baa2, could drive up borrowing costs for the city and cause problems with some of Chicago's current interest-rate swap contracts.

Moody's Say's Cheaper Oil WILL NOT Boost Global Growth... What have I been saying all along... Someone should tell the morons at CNBC... Lower oil prices will fail to give a "significant boost" to global growth in the next two years, Moody's has said. The ratings agency said any boost from cheaper oil would be offset by the eurozone's economic woes as well as slowdowns in China, Japan and Russia. As a result, Moody's said it would not be revising its growth forecasts for the G20 countries. "For the G20 economies, we expect GDP growth of just under 3% each...

With its case against Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services nearing the finish, the Justice Department has turned its attention to another credit-rating firm under fire for issuing rosy grades on mortgage deals in the buildup to the financial crisis. Justice Department officials in recent months have quietly met with multiple former executives of Moody’s Investors Service to discuss ratings of complex securities before the crisis, according to people familiar with the situation. The Justice Department lawyers probing Moody’s are still in the early stages of their investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. It isn’t yet clear whether it...

1 December 2014 Last updated at 14:22 Japan downgraded by Moody's amid rising fears over debt Moody's has cut Japan's credit rating by one notch over rising doubts about its ability to reduce debt levels. The decision by the ratings agency sent the yen to a seven-year low against the US dollar. The downgrade comes less than a two weeks before a snap general election called by prime minister Shinzo Abe. His economic stimulus policies and a decision to delay a second sales tax rise will be among the key campaign issues. Tom Byrne, regional credit officer of Moody's, said...

Moody’s downgraded Japan’s credit rating Monday, citing “rising uncertainty” over the country’s debt situation and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering efforts to kick-start the world’s No. 3 economy. The ratings agency said it cut Japan’s rating by one notch to A1 from Aa3, after the economy sank into recession during the third quarter.

Fears over the future of Japan's economy are growing – and Moody's, the credit ratings agency, reflected this on Monday by cutting its credit rating to A1 from AA3. The news came just after the country's main stock market, the Nikkei, closed at a seven-year high.