Among the companies rated by Standard & Poor's (S&P), there have been just 44 corporate defaults around the world so far this year, down from 81 for the whole of 2010 and far below the record of 265 in 2009. Most are based in America (home to around half the companies followed by S&P). Seventeen of the defaults came from missed interest or principal payments, 11 from bankruptcy filings and eight from distressed exchanges. Consumer-goods and services industries accounted for the most defaults, followed by transport (the latest bankruptcy filing was by AMR, the parent of American Airlines). After making up a quarter of all defaults in 2009, only five leisure and media companies have defaulted in 2011.
