Global integration  Even before the new government came to power, many countries started to normalise trade relations with South Africa when it became apparent that the political transition would be negotiated in a peaceful manner. Trade boycotts, economic sanctions and the disinvestment campaign were suspended.
At the same time, the deteriorating creditworthiness of many borrowers – euphemistically called rating migration – is hurting banks’ ability to lend. In terms of securitisations, this effect is aggravated by the “cliff effects” under the Basel framework (sudden increase in capital requirements triggered by a rating fall below a certain threshold).