"We veteran investment managers sat together. At least at Migdal, we saw two defaults in the past decade. I don’t think that we lack experience," said Migdal Insurance VP Anat Levin at the Globes Finance and Capital Markets Conference panel on "Following the lost debt" today.
Levin added, "I can't understand why the Israel Securities Authority will not allow representative of exchange traded funds, which have NIS 8 billion in assets, to attend bond restructuring meetings."
Bank Leumi Corporate Division director Rakefet Russak-Aminoach said that good work was being done at the bank's business credit portfolio. She noted, however, "People with umbrellas still get wet when it pours."
Standard & Poor's Maalot CEO Dorit Selinger said, "We're still learning lessons. We're still internalizing what we learned so far about credit assumptions."
Citibank Israel Banking Division head Itay Makov said, "Foreign banks are naturally reducing credit. On the other hand, good companies are still able to raise debt, albeit at higher interest rates. The banks' appetite for risk has declined."
Selinger added, "There is room for debt restructuring for any company that has a chance of recovering from the crisis. A settlement should be at fair compensation, such as at a higher interest rate or conversion to stock. The market should look after itself, and can deal with this without government intervention. I consider it problematic that things are done at the last moment and not in advance."
Excellence Nessuah CEO David Baruch said, "It would be better if the government created good macroeconomic conditions. We wasted six month before the elections. The credit crunch isn't at the big companies, which have solved, or will solve, matters. The small companies are the ones suffering from the crisis."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 13, 2009
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