OREANDA-NEWS. Intensifying scrutiny surrounding Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has sent credit default swap (CDS) spreads to their widest levels ever, according to Fitch Solutions in its latest CDS Case Study Snapshot.

Five-year CDS on Petrobras widened out 24% last week. CDS liquidity for Petrobras has also increased, with contracts currently trading within the second global percentile.

'CDS widening for Petrobras likely reflects market concerns stemming from the continued delays in publishing its audited fiscal results amid money laundering scandals surrounding the company's contracting practices,' said Director Diana Allmendinger.

Fitch Solutions case studies build on data from its CDS Pricing Service and proprietary quantitative models, including CDS Implied Ratings. These credit risk indicators are designed to provide real-time, market-based views of creditworthiness. As such, they can and often do reflect more short term market views on factors such as currencies, seasonal market effects and short-term technical influences. This is in contrast to Fitch Ratings' Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), which are based on forward-looking fundamental credit analysis over an extended period of time.