BlackRock and State Street actively adjusted investment rules to continue holding French bonds

To avoid being forced to sell their holdings of French bonds, some bond funds managed by large global asset management firms have modified their investment rules. The EUR 1 billion State Street fund and the EUR 289 million BlackRock product have recently stopped using indices with a strict standard of AA credit rating as benchmarks. According to informed sources, after taking this measure, they can still maintain their exposure to French bonds even if France's rating is downgraded below that standard