US Bankruptcies Likely to Increase Though quieter and less market-riling than a move weeks ago by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the United States’ sovereign credit rating on debt and global economic slowdown concerns, another firm has issued a sort of cut as well to the Americans.
The U.S.A., along with economic powerhouses Germany and France, were among six stripped of their “positive watch” status through Coface, which annually publishes the highly-touted “Handbook of Country Risk” outlining payment and collections trends and practices. Coface noted the moves were made largely on the collateral damage of the EU- and, to a somewhat lesser extent, U.S.-economic stumbles. In all, 10 received some sort of lessened status in the update. Coface noted that newly expected lower levels of U.S. growth through late 2011 and 2012 are “likely to result in an increase in bankruptcies, particularly for small and medium-sized companies…”
