NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings downgraded three corporate credit unions late last week, knocking Constitution Corporate FCU, Members United Corporate FCU and Southwest Corporate FCU each down a notch. The long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of all three were downgraded from 'AA-' to 'A+', Short term IDRs and Short-term debt ratings were downgraded from 'F1+' to 'F1', and Individual ratings were downgraded from 'A/B' to 'B'.

Fitch expects all three corporates to take near-term losses, although earnings and reserves should absorb them. The decision to downgrade considered not just those losses, Fitch said, but also the potential for future losses that could possibly impact capital positions.

Fitch maintained Southeast Corporate FCU's long-term and short-term ratings of 'AA-' and 'F1+', respectively, but put those ratings on Watch Negative, and downgraded Southeast's Individual rating from 'A/B' to 'B'. Southeast is not facing any near-term losses, Fitch said, but does have the potential for losses due to credit market dislocation.

However, Southeast issued a statement to members saying the likelihood of any material losses is “extremely remote”, and Fitch's concerns may be overstated.

“We believe Southeast will have more capital after the current crisis has passed than it had when the crisis began,” President/CEO Bill Birdwell said in the statement.

Fitch also affirmed the ratings of First Corporate CU, Central Corporate CU, Eastern Corporate FCU and Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU.