Fitch withdraws Radian's ratings on lack of info
NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings said on Friday it withdrew its ratings on Radian Group (RDN.N) and its mortgage and bond insurers because Radian has not provided it with adequate information to maintain credible ratings.
Fitch maintained the ratings even after Radian's management asked it in September to withdraw them because it considered Fitch's decision to downgrade its principal bond insurer "unwarranted."
Fitch kept the ratings due to investor interest. But since September, Radian's management stopped providing it with detailed and non-public information on insured portfolios, which is needed for capital models, the rating agency said.
"Fitch believes information available to it is no longer adequate to maintain credible ratings under its existing methodologies used in the mortgage insurance and financial guaranty industries," it said in a statement.
The rating agency said it may review its modeling approach to explore ways to provide credible ratings in the future using only publicly available information.
Fitch withdrew its "A-minus" rating on $750 million of Radian Group's debt as well as the "AA-minus" insurer financial strength ratings on Radian Guaranty Inc, Radian Insurance Inc, Amerin Guaranty Corp. These ratings were on rating watch negative.
It also withdrew "A-plus" insurer financial strength rating on Radian Asset Assurance Inc, which were on rating watch evolving.
A Radian spokesman was not immediately available to comment. (Reporting by Anastasija Johnson; Editing by Dan Grebler)
