Statement of Chief Credit Officer Paul Héroux in
Reaction to S&P’s Ratings Affirmed and Change in Outlook
Contact: Eric Amig - 212 441-6807 |
August 8 , 2003 |
Investments by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York are limited to AAA-rated, housing-related securities that promote our housing finance and community investment mission. The Home Loan Bank has a $12.8 billion held-to-maturity investment portfolio.
Four bonds, secured by manufactured housing loans and rated AAA by S&P at the time of investment, were downgraded in recent months. The downgrades reflect the worse than expected performance of the underlying loans, overall weakness in the manufactured housing sector and deteriorating levels of credit support. The bonds continue to be investment grade. The four bonds represent less than 1% of the Bank's total assets. Management is assessing various strategies to address this matter.
We do not expect any action the Bank might take to have a material adverse affect on our ability to meet our financial obligations or on our ability to meet our regulatory capital requirements.
Paul B. Héroux
Senior Vice President and
Chief Credit Officer