OREANDA-NEWS. June 30, 2015. Fitch Ratings today published an update of the rating migration and default experience of Fitch-rated global corporate and structured finance short-term ratings through 2014.

The low default rate persisted across the corporate finance sector. Fitch Ratings recorded three short-term corporate finance (financial institution and industrial) defaults in 2014. The resulting average 12-month default rate for 2014 was 0.2%, below the 1990-2013 historical 12-month average of 0.31%.

The ratio of downgrades to upgrades - year-over-year - for 2014 was a moderate 0.9 to 1. The share of corporate finance issuers downgraded - 3.1% in 2014 - declined from over 6% recorded in 2013. The upgrade margin was tighter, with 3.5% upgraded in 2014 compared with 2.4% in 2013.

For the second consecutive year, there were no upgrades or downgrades year-over-year registered for short-term structured finance ratings in 2014. All ratings either remained the same or were paid in full, with a small balance of less than 1% that were withdrawn.

The study is titled 'Fitch Ratings Global Short-Term Rating 2014 Transition and Default Study' and is available on Fitch's web site under Credit Market Research.