Singapore, March 16, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary
credit opinion on Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and includes certain
regulatory disclosures regarding its ratings. This release does
not constitute any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for Rizal
Commercial Banking Corporation.
Moody's current ratings on Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
are:
Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of Ba2
Senior Unsecured MTN Program (foreign currency) ratings of (P)Ba2
Long Term Bank Deposits (foreign currency) ratings of Ba2
Bank Financial Strength ratings of D-
Subordinate MTN Program (foreign currency) ratings of (P)Ba3
Preferred Stock Non-cumulative (foreign currency) ratings of B3
(hyb)
Short Term Bank Deposits (foreign currency) ratings of NP
Other Short Term (foreign currency) ratings of (P)NP
RATINGS RATIONALE
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation's ("RCBC") bank financial strength
rating ("BFSR") of D- reflects its well established niche in the
corporate middle market and special economic zones, improved capitalization,
and potential synergies from its affiliation with the Yuchengco Group
of companies.
The rating additionally takes into account its relatively small market
presence, modest earnings, and weak asset quality.
Its past reliance on external support provided through regulatory forbearance
also serves as a constraint on its rating.
Moody's assessment of a high probability of systemic support for RCBC,
and a systemic support input assumption of Baa3 result in an uplift in
its global local currency deposit ratings from its Ba3 baseline credit
assessment ("BCA"). As the Philippines' country foreign currency
deposit ceiling is at Ba2, the bank's foreign currency long-term
deposit rating is constrained at Ba2. The Baa3 systemic support
input's two notch lift above the local currency government bond rating
of Ba2 takes into consideration Moody's expectations that the risk of
a system-wide banking crisis is low and the risk that the government
"ring-fencing" its own position from the banking system is medium.
Thus, the deposit and debt ratings of RCBC incorporate four main
elements: (1) the bank's BFSR of D-, which translates
into a BCA of Ba3; (2) Moody's assessment of a high probability of
systemic support from the government of the Philippines and a systemic
support input assumption of Baa3; (3) the Philippines' foreign currency
deposit and debt ceilings of Ba2 and Baa3, respectively; and
(4) the seniority of its deposits and debts.
Rating Outlook
On June 15, 2011, RCBC's foreign currency long-term
deposit rating was raised to Ba2 from Ba3. This was in line with
the sovereign rating action that raised Philippines sovereign's
foreign currency deposit ceiling to Ba2 from Ba3. RCBC's
rating remains constrained by the foreign currency deposit ceiling.
The rating outlook is stable.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
- Significant reduction in non-performing assets without
regulatory forbearance
- Sustained improvement in profitability as a result of better
utilization of its affiliations with the Yuchengco group for cross-selling
opportunities
- Increase in its systemic importance through prudent growth in
its market share
What Could Change the Rating - Down
- Deterioration in the bank's asset quality, such that earnings
and capital are affected
- Aggressive organic growth and/or acquisitions at the expense
of capital, asset quality and profitability
The methodologies used in this rating were Bank Financial Strength Ratings:
Global Methodology published in February 2007, Incorporation of
Joint-Default Analysis into Moody's Bank Ratings: A
Refined Methodology published in March 2007 and Moody's Guidelines
for Rating Bank Hybrid Securities and Subordinated Debt published in November
2009. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although this credit rating has been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, this credit
rating is deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following :
parties involved in the ratings, parties not involved in the ratings,
public information, and confidential and proprietary Moody's
Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing
a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent
third-party sources. However, Moody's is not
an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate
information received in the rating process.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
member of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Simon Chen
Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Stephen Long
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Moody's Disclosures on Credit Ratings of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation