BlackRock and State Street have revised investment rules to retain their holdings in French bonds

Some of the world's largest asset management companies operating bond funds are changing investment rules to avoid being forced to sell their holdings of French bonds. A €1 billion fund from State Street and a €289 million product from BlackRock have recently stopped using indices with strict AA credit rating standards as benchmarks. According to informed sources, this allows them to maintain exposure to French debt, even as downgrades push France below the AA threshold. These proactive adjustments have already shown results. Standard & Poor's unexpectedly downgraded France's rating last Friday, which will force other funds with extremely strict investment standards to sell French assets