Cyprus debt in default over bond swap

Standard & Poor's lowered the island's credit ratings to "selective default" from CCC/C, the BBC reports. Cyprus will swap government bonds maturing in 2013 through to the first quarter of 2016 with new debt that matures at between five and 10 years. The EU country has to do the bond swap to meet the terms of its bailout. S&P said on Friday that the "exchange materially changes the terms of the affected debt and constitutes what we consider a distressed exchange". "We view the extension of maturities without what we find to be adequate offsetting compensation as the exchange of ...