Last week Moody's Investor Service downgraded three tranches of York Funding 1998-I, which was the third rating action taken against the trust since launch.
The class II notes were dropped to Ba1 from Baa3; the class IV notes were dropped to Caa2 from B1; and the class V notes were dropped to Caa3 from B3.
York is a synthetic collateralized debt obligation, with a credit-linked structure based in part on the corporate rating of Credit Suisse First Boston, and a blind reference pool owned by the bank.
The class I notes were downgraded to A1 from Aa3 in December 1998, when CSFB's rating was downgraded because of exposure to the Russian liquidity crisis.
Because of portfolio deterioration and credit events, the trust was hit again in May 1999, affecting the ratings of the class II through class V notes. All four were put on watch and then confirmed in April 2000, only to be put back on watch in September 2000, due to deterioration in the reference pool of assets.
