Syndicated bank lending and rating downgrades: Do sovereign ceiling policies really matter?

Hasan, Iftekhar and Kim, Suk-Joong and Politsidis, Panagiotis and Wu, Eliza (2020): Syndicated bank lending and rating downgrades: Do sovereign ceiling policies really matter?

Abstract

We examine the effect of firm credit rating downgrades on the pricing and structure of syndicated bank loans following rating downgrades in the firms’ countries of domicile. We find that the sovereign ceiling policies used by credit rating agencies create a disproportionally adverse impact on the bounded firms’ borrowing costs relative to other domestic firms following their sovereign’s rating downgrade. Moreover, the loans extended tend to be more concentrated and funded by fewer lead arrangers. Forming borrowing relationships with local- as well as foreign-banks and maintaining financial strength ameliorates bounded firms’ bank financing costs.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Credit ratings, Sovereign ceiling, Bank credit, Relationship lending, Foreign-currency lending, Firm credit constraints
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F34 - International Lending and Debt Problems; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G21 - Banks ; Depository Institutions ; Micro Finance Institutions ; Mortgages; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G24 - Investment Banking ; Venture Capital ; Brokerage ; Ratings and Ratings Agencies; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G28 - Government Policy and Regulation; G - Financial Economics > G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance > G32 - Financing Policy ; Financial Risk and Risk Management ; Capital and Ownership Structure ; Value of Firms ; Goodwill; H - Public Economics > H6 - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt > H63 - Debt ; Debt Management ; Sovereign Debt

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