S&P’s Affirms CNA Financial and Subsidiaries’ Ratings; Outlook Stable

Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ‘BBB-/A-3’ counterparty credit rating on CNA Financial Corp. (CNA) and its ‘A-‘ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on CNA’s insurance subsidiaries after the senior debt rating on Loews Corp. (Loews) was placed on CreditWatch with negative implications on April 14.

Standard & Poor’s also said that the outlook on all these companies is
stable.

Loews owns 90 percent of CNA, and the ratings on CNA and the members of CNA Financial Property/Casualty Group (CNAPC) benefit from Loews’s strong commitment to its insurance subsidiary. Loews has injected $1.7 billion of capital into CNA in the past two years, and Standard & Poor’s expects that additional support would be provided if a material capital deficiency emerges at CNAPC.

If the rating on Loews is lowered by one notch, no revision of the
ratings on CNA is expected. In the highly unlikely event that the rating on Loews is lowered by two notches, the ratings on CNA would be placed under review, and a one-notch downgrade of the company would be likely because Standard & Poor’s believes the financial flexibility CNA derives from Loews would be materially lower.