10 October 2014Actuarial & underwriting

Fitch affirms ratings of 5 captives


Rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ratings of five US captive finance companies, following the affirmation of each captive’s corporate parent’s rating.

The rating agency said it considers each captive 'core' to its respective parent, due to strong operational/financial integration, including support agreements in place between each parent and its captive, and the critical function each captive plays in achieving parent's objectives.

These characteristics and Fitch's core designation have resulted in equalisation of the ratings between the parents and their captives.

Fitch has affirmed the following long-term issuer default ratings (IDRs): Boeing Capital Corporation (BCC) at 'A', Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (CFSC) at 'A', Ford Motor Credit Company (Ford Credit) and its affiliates at 'BBB-', General Motors Financial Company (GMF) and its affiliates at 'BB+', and Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) at 'A'.

The rating outlooks for BCC, CFSC, and HDFS remain stable, whereas the rating outlooks for Ford Credit and GMF remain positive.