A major English council is 'going British' as part of its investment strategy, amid evidence authorities are increasingly wary of international credit ratings. Hull City Council has invested ￡100m in short-term investment plans to reduce the risk of losses during the recession, such as those incurred after Iceland's banks collapsed last year. According to a report by the council, all but one of its banking deposits are now with UK institutions. Finance directors withdrew Hull's penultimate international deposit - in Ireland's DePfa bank - once credit ratings agencies downgraded the bank from A- to BBB+- just two grades above a 'non-investment' rating. Michael Hudson, Hull's director of corporate resources, told The MJ: 'We're now almost exclusively focused on UK deposits and investments because of the Treasury's recent decision to underwrite the sector. International banks do not have the same support, so we've moved out of those commitments as the time limit on deposits and investments have expired.'
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