Can anyone say “sovereign risk”:
S&P Global Ratings today said it has revised its outlook on Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Pty Ltd. (Genworth Australia) and Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Pty Ltd. (NZ Branch) to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘A’ insurer financial strength and issuer credit ratings on both entities. We also affirmed the rating on Genworth Australia’s subordinated debt at ‘BBB+’.
We assess the ratings on Genworth Australia as delinked from those on Genworth Financial Inc. (GFI; B/Watch Dev/B), which means that the ratings on Genworth Australia do not benefit from any expectation of extraordinary group support, nor are they subject to any negative intervention from the group.