Bangkok--28 Oct--Moody's
Moody's Investors Service has revised to stable from negative the outlook on the foreign currency debt and deposit ratings of eight Thai banks.
This action follows the change in Moody's outlook to stable for Thailand'sBaa1 foreign currency deposit ceiling, and Baa1 foreign and local currency government bond ratings. In a related action, the country's foreign currency bond ceiling was increased by one notch to A2, with a stable outlook.
See Moody's press release of October 28, 2010, for an extensive discussion of sovereign issues.
The affected banks are the Bangkok Bank (BBL), the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIMT), the Government Housing Bank of Thailand (GHB), the Kasikornbank Public Co Ltd (KBank), the Krung Thai Bank (KTB), the Siam Commercial Bank Public Co Ltd (SCB), the Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) Public Co Ltd (SCBT), and the United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Co Ltd (UOBT).
All other ratings remain unaffected.
The last rating action on BBL was taken on October 12, 2010, when Moody's assigned an A3 foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating to BBL's global senior unsecured notes.
The last rating action on KTB was taken on June 9, 2010, when Moody's changed the outlook on the D- BFSR, the A3/Prime-1 long-term/short-term local currency deposit ratings, and the B2 foreign currency Hybrid Tier 1 rating to stable from negative.
Moody's last rating actions on EXIMT, GHB, KBank, SCB, SCBT, and UOBT were taken on June 24, 2009, when Moody's concluded the review for possible downgrade of their debt and deposit ratings that was initiated on May 27, 2009.
The principal methodologies used in rating these issuers were "Bank Financial Strength Ratings: Global Methodology," published in February2007 and "Incorporation of Joint-Default Analysis into Moody's Bank
Ratings: A Refined Methodology" published in March 2007. Other methodologies and factors that may have been considered in the process of rating these issuers can also be found on Moody's website.
The outlooks for the following ratings were revised to stable:
BBL: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1, foreign currency senior debt rating of A3, and foreign currency subordinated debt rating of Baa1
EXIMT: Issuer rating of Baa1
GHB: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1
KBank: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1 and foreign currency subordinated debt rating of Baa1
KTB: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1 and foreign currency certificate of deposit program of Baa1
SCB: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1
SCBT: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1 and issuer rating of A3
UOBT: Foreign currency long-term deposit rating of Baa1
The outlooks for the following ratings were unaffected by the sovereign rating action and remain stable:
BBL: BFSR of D+ and foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2
BAY: BFSR of D and foreign currency deposit rating of Baa2/P-2
GHB: BFSR of E+ and foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2
KBank: BFSR of D+, foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2 and local currency deposit rating of A3/P-1
KTB: BFSR of D-, foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2, local currency deposit rating of A3/P-1 and preferred stock rating of B2
SCIB: BFSR of D, foreign currency deposit rating of Baa2/P-2, foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating of Baa2, foreign currency subordinated debt rating of Baa3, and short-term debt rating of P-3
SCB: BFSR of D+, foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2 and local currency deposit rating of A3/P-1
SCBT: BFSR of D+, foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2, short-term foreign currency issuer rating of P-2, local currency deposit rating of A3/P-1, and local currency short-term issuer rating of P-1
TMB: BFSR of D-, foreign currency deposit rating of Baa3/P-3 and foreign currency preferred stock of B3
UOBT: BFSR of D and foreign currency short-term deposit rating of P-2
Singapore
Karolyn C. Seet
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Hong Kong
Stephen Long
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore