Unprecedented U.S. corp. defaults seen for '09

U.S. corporate debt default rates are expected to hit "unprecedented" levels in 2009, even though the economy may be past the halfway mark of the U.S. recession, according to a forecast unveiled on Monday at the Reuters Restructuring Summit.

"There is a lot of pain left -- we are only just half way through the 600 or so defaults in this cycle," said Phil Kleweno, a partner at Bain's corporate renewal group.

The forecast for the 2009 corporate default rate has risen to 12 percent to 14 percent, from a May forecast of 11 percent to 13 percent, according to Bain's corporate default outlook. That suggests a total of about 180 to 210 companies could default on their debt this year. (more)