Bangkok--23 Jan--Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings has assigned an expected 'BBB+(EXP)' rating to The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited's (SCB; BBB+/Stable) proposed US-dollar denominated senior unsecured notes, which will be issued under the USD3.5bn medium-term note (MTN) programme by the bank's Cayman Islands branch.
The proposed tenure for the notes will be up to 5.5 years and the total issue size will be up to USD500m. SCB plans to use the issuance for general corporate and funding purposes.
The final rating is subject to the receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
The senior notes are rated at the same level as SCB's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'BBB+', as they will represent the bank's unsecured and unsubordinated obligations.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
The rating of the senior unsecured notes would be directly affected by changes in SCB's Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR.
For further details on SCB's key rating drivers and rating sensitivities, refer to the rating action commentary, Fitch Affirms Thailand's Four Largest Commercial Banks (https://www.fitchratings.com/site/pr/1004588) , dated 17 May 2016.
SCB's other ratings are unaffected by this rating action are as follows:
Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR: 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable
Short-Term Foreign-Currency IDR: 'F2'
Viability Rating: 'bbb+'
Support Rating: '2'
Support Rating Floor: 'BBB-'
National Long-Term Rating: 'AA+(tha)'; Outlook Stable
National Short-Term Rating: 'F1+(tha)'
Senior unsecured USD3.5bn MTN programme: 'BBB+'
Long-term foreign currency senior unsecured debt: 'BBB+'
National short-term senior unsecured debt programme: 'F1+(tha)'
National long-term subordinated debt: 'AA(tha)'