Deutsche Bank CEO doesn't see rise in defaults

By Elena Moya

LONDON (Reuters) - Corporate credit defaults are not expected to rise as the turmoil in financial markets isn't having an immediate effect on the real economy, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said on Thursday.

"We don't see major corporate credit risk, we're not expecting an increase in defaults," Ackermann said at the Reuters Finance Summit in London.

Investors, accountants and corporate finance professionals have expected an increase in corporate defaults for more than a year, as rising interest rates and debt levels put some companies at the brink of insolvency.

However, abundant capital and ample risk appetite in the first half of the year helped struggling companies refinance. Those deals mean that companies are now restructured, delaying the likelihood of a wave of defaults, which remain at historic low levels of less than 1 percent.

Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday that the global junk bond default rate hit a 12 1/2-year low in October at 1.1 percent, but said the rate would more than triple to 3.6 percent within a year.

(Reporting by Elena Moya, Editing by Erica Billingham)