Moody’s lifts Finansbank to Ba1

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the long-term bank deposit and senior unsecured ratings of Finansbank AS to Ba1 from Ba2 and the baseline credit assessment (BCA) to ba3 from b1.

The adjusted BCA, incorporating affiliate support, was also upgraded to ba1 from b1.

The long-term ratings were assigned a stable outlook.

The short-term ratings were confirmed at non-prime.

At the same time, the agency upgraded the counterparty risk assessment to Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr) from Ba2(cr)/NP(cr).

The action follows the legal completion of the acquisition of Finansbank's 99.8% stake by Qatar National Bank (deposits Aa3 negative, BCA baa1) from National Bank of Greece SA (deposits Caa3 stable; BCA caa3).

This action concludes the review initiated on Jan. 25, 2016.

Moody’s said the upgrade of the long-term rating was due to a combination of: (a) The upgrade in the bank's BCA, which is no longer constrained by the bank's association with the previous parent – National Bank of Greece; and (b) incorporation of affiliate support assumptions from the new parent Qatar National Bank leading to a two-notch uplift on Finansbank's adjusted BCA. This leads to an upgrade in the adjusted BCA to ba1 from b1.

The upgrade of the BCA to ba3 from b1 was driven by the assessment of Finansbank's own financial fundamentals and credit profile, which is no longer exposed to a contagion risk which was stemming from its association with the lowly rated National Bank of Greece, as in Moody's opinion the creditworthiness of the parent and the subsidiary cannot be fully delinked.

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