Fitch rates Oversea-Chinese Banking notes A+

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a long-term rating of A+ to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.'s proposed issue of Singapore-dollar denominated subordinated notes due 2017, callable with step-up in 2012.

The outlook is stable.

The rating is one notch lower than the bank's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating of AA- and is in accordance with Fitch's criteria of rating subordinated debt instruments of financial institutions. The notes will be direct, unsecured and subordinated obligations and will rank pari passu with all subordinated debt that qualifies as lower tier-2 capital securities.

Fitch said the rating is supported by the bank's improving asset quality and strong capitalization.

Although the operating environment in the bank's main markets may be less benign in future as a result of the expected slowdown in the United States, the bank's credit profile should stay sufficiently strong to maintain its ratings at their current level, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.