Kudlow on Regulating Money Funds
CNBC's Kudlow on Regulating Money Funds discusses Paul Volcker's recent comments to Bloomberg with Tony Carfang of Treasury Strategies' and Peter Morici of the University Of Maryland. In other news, Fitch Ratings released a statement on, "Straight-A Funding Holdings in Rated Money Market Funds," which says, "Rated money market funds investing in student loan short-term (SLST) notes issued by Straight-A Funding, LLC (rated 'F1+' by Fitch) have sought feedback on how such ABCP holdings are viewed in terms of Fitch ratings criteria, particularly with respect to concentration limits. Fitch's rating criteria for 'AAA/V1+' money market funds outlines minimum asset credit quality guidelines of 'A/F1', with 5% per issuer limit applicable to all issuers with the exception of U.S Treasury and government agency securities. Straight-A Funding is, however, in Fitch's view a unique instance of a government supported asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) vehicle. The notes benefit from a fully-supported liquidity facility provided by the Federal Financing Bank (FFB), the credit risk of which is considered by Fitch to be commensurate with that of the U.S. government. As a result, a higher concentration than 5% would be appropriate in Fitch's view, reflecting low credit risk and high quality liquidity support."
