Eyeing B&C Woes, HSBC Revamps 2 Vehicles

HSBC Holdings PLC, London, has restructured two structured investment vehicles to address U.S. subprime mortgage woe-sparked liquidity concerns affecting these financial instruments.Standard & Poor's said HSBC's ratings would be unaffected by the move and noted that none of the asset-backed securities and other structured finance notes in the pool has been downgraded. "After taking into account expected repayments and amortizations, HSBC ultimately expects to provide up to $35 billion in liquidity facilities and term funding to the new vehicles," the rating agency said. "This is a substantial sum, but HSBC has maintained a very strong liquidity position throughout the current market dislocation, and it has sufficient available resources to absorb these additional obligations."