Moody's on Jan. 21 said it downgraded Hong Kong Mortgage Corp. Ltd.'s long-term issuer ratings to Aa3 from Aa2 and revised outlook on the company to stable from negative, a day after downgrading Hong Kong government's issuer rating.

At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the company's short-term issuer ratings at P-1. It also affirmed the company's other short-term ratings at (P)P-1 and its baseline credit assessment at "a2."

Moody's said the company's ratings take into account its baseline credit assessment and a high level of dependency on the Hong Kong government due to its exposure to the housing market and its very high financial and operational links with the government.