1.   Another agency, Fitch, lowered its ratings of Japanese sovereign debt to AA-plus in September.

2.   Colombia and Chile are the only countries in the region with an investment grade credit rating on its sovereign debt.

3.   Colombia and Chile are the only countries in Latin America with an investment grade credit rating on their sovereign debt.

4.   Colombia and Chile are the only countries in Latin America with an investment-grade credit rating on their sovereign debt.

5.   Colombia and Chile are the only countries in Latin America with investment grade credit ratings on their sovereign debt.

6.   Colombia, Uruguay and Chile are the only Latin American countries whose sovereign debt is rated investment grade.

7.   Corporate borrowers typically offer investors a bigger yield than sovereign debt because governments are considered less likely to default.

8.   Futures and options contracts traded on sovereign debt in most cases will be traded locally.

9.   He said particularly strong companies are sometimes constrained in foreign currency borrowings by the sovereign debt ratings of their nations of residence.

10.   He said the underlying capital may come from the Debt Rescue Fund, which is being formed with windfall oil revenue solely to pay sovereign debt.