Fitch withdraws SovRisc rating as deal postponed

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings said on Monday it had withdrawn the rating on a $1 billion sale of bonds backed by loans made by guaranteed export credit agencies, because the transaction has been postponed.

Fitch said the deal, the third of its kind via special purpose vehicle SovRisc B.V., had earlier received an expected rating of AAA with a stable outlook.

Fitch said ABN AMRO, the originator of the transaction, expected the next issue from the programme to be launched in the fourth quarter and that the size of the underlying portfolio would be "significantly larger".

The export credit agencies involved in the deal are Eximbank of the United States, the ECGD of the UK, Euler Hermes of Germany and Coface of France.

A string of bond and loan sales have been postponed in recent weeks due to the extreme volatility in the credit markets, sparked by fears over troubles in the U.S. subprime mortgage market and the unwinding of positions by leveraged investors such as hedge funds.