Funds operating under the city’s HK$1.3 trillion ($213.96 billion) MPF system are only allowed to invest more than 10% of their assets in Treasuries if the US has a AAA or equivalent credit score from an approved agency. After Moody’s Ratings’ downgrade earlier this month, the only remaining such score is from Japan’s Rating & Investment Information Inc.
Hong Kong’s pensions regulator has pushed back against requests to change rules that would require funds to sell Treasuries in the event of another US ratings downgrade, and instead told funds to draw up “contingency plans.”
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, which regulates Hong Kong’s pension system, said in an emailed statement Wednesday it had “urged MPF trustees to evaluate the potential implications if the US loses its last AAA rating by an approved agency.”
