Guess what is the largest threat Asian corporates face in 2015

How will they cope with it?

Rising leverage and refinancing risks are — according to respondents in Hong Kong and Singapore — the two most pressing challenges facing Asian corporates in 2015.

According to a research note from Moody's Investors Service, these risks accounted for an average 28% and 22% of those surveyed in Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by foreign exchange volatility (16%) and China’s property sector downturn (14%).

Further, the report also noted that the lion’s share of participants in Hong Kong and Singapore regarded China’s property space as the sector facing the largest challenges to credit quality in 2015.

Moody's Investors Service noted that broadly speaking, it shares the same concerns that participants in Hong Kong and Singapore identified, given the aggressive increase in non-financial corporate borrowings seen in recent years.

Here's more from Moody's Investors Service:

For example, using Bank for International Settlements data, we estimated that non-financial corporate leverage in China rose to an estimated 156% of nominal GDP in the second quarter of 2014 from 108% in 2006.

However, we believe that it is important to make the distinction between entities which are rated by us, and those which are unrated.

Moody's-rated corporates in Asia tend to be larger and have access to more diverse funding sources than other entities in the region. As a result, we expect leverage to stabilize in 2015, as capex plans are scaled back.

Furthermore, most rated companies can address debt maturities during 2015-18, given that their debt maturity profile is staggered, and dominated by investment-grade, domestic bonds; for which market demand is strong.

By contrast, we expect the asset quality of banks across Asia to deteriorate. We will continue to monitor this risk, but believe that most banking systems can absorb these challenges, given their generally strong capital metrics, and sound liquidity and funding profiles.