Bloomberg writes "European Bank Debt Dominates U.S. Money-Market Fund Assets". The piece says, "European banks dominated a list of top issuers to U.S. prime money-market funds, accounting for 44 percent of assets, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Rabobank Group, based in Utrecht, Netherlands, was the biggest issuer, selling 3.4 percent of the funds' assets as of the end of February, followed by Paris-based BNP Paribas (BNP) SA at 3.2 percent and Societe General SA at 2.4 percent, Fitch said. No U.S. banks were in the top 10." Bloomberg quotes Peter Crane, president of money fund research firm Crane Data LLC in Westborough, Massachusetts, "The concentration raises some concerns, but you'll notice the money funds haven't been in Ireland for well over a year or in Spain for months. By the time you read about a country in the headlines, the money funds are usually long gone." The article adds, "Among European nations, funds had the highest concentration in debt from French banks at 12 percent, followed by U.K. banks at 8.6 percent, according to the Fitch report. Funds had no holdings in Ireland or Portugal at the end of February, while Spanish bank holdings fell to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent in December."
