Standard and Poor's clarifies the reasons behind the publication of the "Rating higher than sovereign" criterion, following which it placed the negative rating on Generali on Credit Watch. In a note, the credit rating agency explains that this criterion is applied worldwide to all companies that have a potentially higher rating than a country to which they "have a significant exposure".
Generali's negative Credit Watch “reflects the company's relatively higher exposure to global multiline competitors, and particularly in the volume of Italian assets relative to regulated capital”. The timing, continues the S&P note, with which the decision was announced “is completely unrelated to any event that could affect a particular sovereign or non-sovereign country to which a rating is assigned. Instead, it coincides with the publication of the new criteria for the corporate sector and after a period of work of more than seven months, including that of consultation with the market".
