Credit Union Baywide gets BB rating; ponders Govt guarantee

The 38-year-old mutual organisation was given a BB long-term counterparty rating and a B short-term counterparty credit rating by Standard & Poor's, qualifying it for the government to guarantee its deposits, due to its loyal membership base and its capital ratios, according to S&P analyst Peter Sikora.

"Key asset-quality indicators are satisfactory when assessed against the credit-risk profile," Sikora said in a statement. "There is no significant single-name concentration."

Credit Union Baywide chief executive Gavin Earle is pleased with the rating, saying it is a fair indication given rating agencies are cracking down in the wake of the financial crisis, and it opens the door for Baywide to choose whether to enter the government's guarantee scheme or not.

"In the credit crisis, it's the best we could've hoped for in the in the current environment," Earle told www.depositrtes.co.nz. "It gives us options, and we will be looking closer at the time whether other credit unions and building societies take it up."