S&P Revises FHLBank Ratings

Standard & Poor's has raised the counterparty credit rating of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, assigned a negative outlook to the FHLBank of Des Moines, and revised from negative to stable the outlooks for the FHLBanks of Dallas and Pittsburgh.The counterparty credit rating of the FHLBank-NY was raised from AA-plus/A-1-plus to AAA/A-1-plus, S&P reported. The counterparty credit rating of the Des Moines (Iowa) FHLBank was removed from CreditWatch, but its outlook is negative, the rating agency said. The counterparty credit ratings of the Dallas and Pittsburgh FHLBanks were affirmed, in addition to the upward revision of their outlooks. The ratings on the other eight FHLBanks were affirmed, as was the AAA rating on the consolidated obligations of the FHLBank System. In a Sept. 21 letter to stockholders, FHLBank-NY president Alfred A. DelliBovi noted that S&P had lowered its counterparty credit rating in 2003 because of a loss related to the sale of approximately $1 billion of securities collateralized by manufactured housing receivables. The upgrade "reflects the success of [the bank's] strategy to rebuild retained earnings and the continuation of a low-risk profile," he said.