Action follows the downgrade of parent's ratings
Moscow, June 18, 2012 -- Moody's Interfax Rating Agency (MIRA) has today downgraded to Aa3.ru
from Aa2.ru the National Scale Rating (NSR) of Natixis Bank (ZAO),
the Russian subsidiary of Natixis, the sixth-largest French
banking group.
The downgrade of Natixis Bank (ZAO)'s ratings was prompted by Moody's
rating downgrade of the French parent bank Natixis to A2 deposits;
BFSR D/ BCA ba2 from Aa3 deposits; BFSR D+/ BCA baa3,
which, in turn, reflects Moody's assessment of the weakened
capacity of Natixis to provide timely capital and funding support to the
Russian subsidiary, in case of need.
Today's rating action on Natixis Bank (ZAO) concludes the review
that Moody's Interfax initiated on 21 February 2012, when
the ratings were placed on review for downgrade, following a similar
rating action on Natixis.
For additional information on bank ratings, please refer to the
webpage containing Moody's related announcements http://www.moodys.com/bankratings2012.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on moodys.com
for information on Global Scale Rating.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The downgrade of Natixis Bank (ZAO)'s NSR to Aa3.ru from
Aa2.ru was prompted by Moody's downgrade of Natixis'
ratings.
Moody's says that the lowering of Natixis's standalone credit assessment
to ba2 from baa3, announced on 15 June 2012, reflects the
bank's vulnerability to the weakening operating environment. Under
Moody's Joint Default Analysis methodology, the long-term
ratings of the Russian subsidiary incorporate uplift from parental support
assumptions; the two-notch lowering of Natixis' standalone
credit assessment therefore has a direct impact on the ratings of the
subsidiary.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
Moody's Interfax believes there is little likelihood of any upward
movement in Natixis Bank (ZAO)'s rating in the near-term,
unless there is a material improvement in the operating environments of
the bank's parent group. At the same time, Moody's
Interfax notes that downward pressure could be exerted on Natixis Bank
(ZAO)'s standalone rating by any material adverse changes in the
bank's risk profile, particularly significant impairment of
the bank's liquidity position, capitalisation and by any failure
to maintain control over its asset quality. In addition,
further downward pressure on Natixis' ratings could affect Natixis Bank
(ZAO) (Russia)'s NSR.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES
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: Global
Methodology published in March 2012, and Mapping Moody's National
Scale Ratings to Global Scale Ratings in March 2011. Please see
the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these
methodologies.
Headquartered in Moscow, Russia, Natixis Bank (ZAO) reported
total assets of RUB20.5 billion and shareholders' equity
of RUB2.3 billion, in accordance with Russian GAAP (unaudited),
as at 31 December 2011.
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency's National Scale Ratings (NSRs) are
intended as relative measures of creditworthiness among debt issues and
issuers within a country, enabling market participants to better
differentiate relative risks. NSRs differ from Moody's global scale
ratings in that they are not globally comparable with the full universe
of Moody's rated entities, but only with NSRs for other rated debt
issues and issuers within the same country. NSRs are designated
by a ".nn" country modifier signifying the relevant
country, as in ".ru" for Russia. For further
information on Moody's approach to national scale ratings, please
refer to Moody's Rating Methodology published in March 2011 entitled "Mapping
Moody's National Scale Ratings to Global Scale Ratings".
ABOUT MOODY'S AND MOODY'S INTERFAX
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency (MIRA) specializes in credit risk analysis
in Russia. MIRA is a joint-venture between Moody's Investors
Service, a leading provider of credit ratings, research and
analysis covering debt instruments and securities in the global capital
markets, and the Interfax Information Services Group. Moody's
Investors Service is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:
MCO).
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
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, 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.
Lev Dorf
Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency
7th floor, Four Winds Plaza
21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St.
Moscow 125047
Russia
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091
Yves J Lemay
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Interfax Rating Agency
7th floor, Four Winds Plaza
21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St.
Moscow 125047
Russia
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091
Moody's Interfax downgrades NSR of Russia's Natixis Bank (ZAO) to Aa3.ru