S&P rates Woori Bank notes BBB

S&P said it assigned a BBB long-term issue rating to the proposed dollar-denominated Basel III tier 2 subordinated notes of Woori Bank.

The notes will be drawn down from the bank's subordinated tranche under its $7 billion global medium-term notes program.

Woori Bank intends to use the notes as Basel III tier 2 regulatory capital, S&P said.

They will be direct, unsecured and subordinated to senior creditors' claims, the agency said.

The rating is one notch lower than the BBB+ stand-alone credit profile assessment of Woori Bank, S&P said.

Based on the hybrid capital criteria, the notching reflects the risk related to subordination, but it does not reflect the risk of write-down and waiver of principal and interest payments upon the occurrence of a non-viability event, the agency said.

S&P also said it believes Korean banks, including Woori Bank, will likely receive extraordinary support from the government in a pre-emptive manner and at a relatively early stage if they were to come under financial stress.

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