In order to generate greater interest and participation in primary auctions and improve the liquidity of its Savings Protection Bonds (BPAs), IPAB has worked to opportunely inform the market of the characteristics of its instruments, thereby helping to lower the financial cost of its debt.
In addition, in order to build consensus and achieve full recognition among investors participating in the national debt market, in 2003 IPAB initiated an accreditation process for the solvency and creditworthiness of its Savings Protection Bonds, and of IPAB itself as a debt issuer.
Standard &Poor´s
In September 2003, the rating agency Standard & Poor's, S.A. de C.V. (S&P) was retained to assign a rating to the creditworthiness of IPAB’s Savings Protection Bonds, and IPAB itself as a debt issuer.
FITCH
Continuing this process, and considering that investors value consensus of opinion among securities rating institutions, in October 2004, IPAB retained the services of the agency Fitch Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Fitch), to assign a second rating to the creditworthiness of its Savings Protection Bonds, and of IPAB as a debt issuer.Fitch assigned IPAB a credit risk rating equal to the sovereign rating of the federal government, after considering, among other factors, IPAB’s systemic importance in the Mexican banking industry.
Moody´s
Finally, in December 2005, IPAB obtained from Moody's de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Moody's), the third and last credit rating of its Savings Protection Bonds, and of IPAB as a debt issuer.The rating assigned by Moody's, added to those issued by Standard & Poor's and Fitch, established a consensus among the three authorized rating agencies in Mexico regarding IPAB’s creditworthiness and that of the Bonds it issues, consistently equal to the ratings assigned to the Mexican government and the debt it issues directly.Also, this event reaffirms the investing public’s confidence in instruments issued by IPAB and in the liability management strategy implemented by IPAB, which translates into a reduced burden on public finances.
It is relevant to remark here that other debt issuers, among them government organizations such as PEMEX, NAFINSA, INFONAVIT, and SHF, have also used the services of the three above-named securities rating agencies to broaden the universe of potential customers for the instruments they place.
