S&P: Citic Securities on watch

Standard & Poor’s said it placed Citic Securities Co. Ltd.’s BBB+ and A-2 ratings Greater China regional scale ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, along with Citic Securities International Co. Ltd.’s cnA+ and cnA-1 ratings.

The agency also said it placed all of the issue ratings on Citic’s debt on negative watch, except the A long-term and cnAA+ Greater China scale ratings on the $800 million bonds that Bank of China Ltd. guarantees.

The CreditWatch placement follows news that China police have taken several senior company managers and employees, including its president, into custody following a probe into possible insider dealing and leaking of insider information during the recent equity market turmoil, S&P said.

The police probe, together with heightened industry risk for Chinese securities companies and elevated equity exposure to China’s volatile equity market, could significantly undermine the company’s credit profile, the agency said.

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