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EU steps taken to protect the interests of European companies in Iran send a strong political message, but face major barriers to implementation, given the dominance of the US in the global economy and financial markets. We maintain our view for a reduction in Iranian oil exports in 2019, with substantial decreases in purchases from European buyers

Fitch Ratings expects National Bank of Hungary's (NBH) mortgage bond purchase programme to support the development of the domestic covered bond market and improve match-funding of mortgage assets on the banks' balance sheet. The newly set up programme enables the central bank to conduct purchases on the primary and the secondary market, up to half

The sector outlook for global reinsurance remains negative given intense market competition, the influx of alternative capital that continues to pressure pricing and persistently low investment yields that strain reinsurer profitability. However, Fitch's ratings for the global reinsurance sector remain stable, as strong capitalization of most rated

The location of Amazon's second headquarters (HQ2) will not have a near-term impact on local government ratings or the housing market around the eventual winner.

The jobs brought by HQ2 will only affect the local governments that can capture the attendant property, sales and income taxes. The projected 50,000 jobs the regions will gain varies from

Though a fairly small piece of U.S. CMBS 2.0 transactions, performance of student housing properties continues to lag other property types.

Student housing properties have historically fared worse than traditional multifamily properties. With delinquencies increasing over the last couple of months, student housing delinquencies are now four times

The foundations of an institutional money fund industry have been laid in Saudi Arabia. Retail investors represent the largest share of money fund investors in Saudi Arabia; however, Fitch has identified an increasing number of funds offering high minimum initial investment share classes, which are typically accessible only to large or

The Nicaraguan government's rollback of social security (INSS) changes amid widespread protests will lead to increased general government financing requirements and debt in 2018 and 2019, says Fitch Ratings. The INSS cash reserves previously projected to last through 2019 are depleting faster than expected. The protests and violence over INSS

Second-lien exposure in US broadly syndicated loan (BSL) collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) is on the rise after a decline since the latest peak in mid-2015. Recently launched US CLOs rated by Fitch Ratings have been building in higher limits for second-lien exposure, likely for flexibility to manage weighted average spread (WAS) pressures.

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Through the next decade one of our long-term views for refined fuel consumption, specifically in developed markets, is that of a gradual structural decline. This is predominantly driven by improving fuel efficiency of conventional internal combustion engines (ICE) added into the vehicle fleets, eroding energy demand. However, we expect the

Depreciation on two to six-year old vehicles in the U.S. is forecast at 17% for 2018, up from 13% in 2017, according to Black Book. This is due to rising used supply entering the wholesale markets, driven in part by a 12% jump yoy in lease returns coming due. Fitch Ratings believes this will drive recovery rates in auto asset backed securities (ABS