S&P outlines ‘credit cliffs’

In a survey of 1,000 US and European investment-grade companies, rating agency Standard & Poor’s has identified 24 credits that could face serious liquidity implications due to downgrades or other triggers such as the exercising of financial covenants.

“Our survey and analysis show that about half of the 1,000 companies responding have exposure to some sort of contingent liability,” says Edward Emmer, executive managing director of S&P’s corporate and government ratings unit. “However, only a