Actions follow downgrade of parent's standalone rating
New York, May 18, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today confirmed the supported debt
ratings of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.'s
(BBVA) North American bank subsidiaries, including BBVA USA Bancshares
(BBVAUSA) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Puerto Rico (BBVAPR).
The outlooks are negative on all of the supported ratings. See
List of Affected Ratings below.
Today's announcement concludes the reviews initiated on 22 February
2012, when BBVA's North American subsidiaries' supported
ratings were placed on review for downgrade.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Today's announcement follows the two-notch downgrade of BBVA's
standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) to C, mapping to
a standalone credit assessment of a3, from B-/a1 (see "Moody's
downgrades Spanish banks; ratings carry negative outlooks or remain
on review for downgrade," dated 17 May 2012 and available
on moodys.com).
The subsidiaries' supported ratings were confirmed because they
continue to benefit from two notches of ratings lift, which is a
function of the parent's a3 standalone credit assessment and our
high expectation of parental support.
RATIONALE FOR THE NEGATIVE OUTLOOKS
Following today's actions, the outlooks are negative on the
supported ratings of these subsidiaries, consistent with the negative
outlook on the parent's standalone credit assessment. However,
Moody's changed the outlook on the standalone BFSR of Compass Bank
to stable from negative, which reflects the bank's reduced
concentration in commercial real estate and improved asset quality.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
- BBVAUSA: Baa1 long-term issuer rating confirmed
- Compass Bank: long-term bank deposit rating confirmed
at A3; short-term bank deposit rating of Prime-2 was
affirmed; subordinate debt rating confirmed at Baa1; the standalone
rating (C-/baa2 standalone BFSR/standalone credit assessment) was
affirmed with a stable outlook
- Phoenix Loan Holdings: non-cumulative preferred
stock rating confirmed at Baa3
- BBVAPR: long-term bank deposit rating confirmed
at A3; short-term bank deposit rating of Prime-2 was
affirmed; commercial paper rating of Prime-2 was affirmed;
subordinated rating confirmed at Baa1; the standalone rating (C-/baa2
standalone BFSR/standalone credit assessment), which was placed
on review for downgrade on 10 April 2012 because of Puerto Rico's
difficult operating environment, remains on review.
For a complete list of affected ratings, please refer to the individual
issuer pages on www.moodys.com. For additional information
on bank ratings, please refer to the webpage containing Moody's
related announcements: http://www.moodys.com/bankratings2012.
RATING METHODOLOGIES
The methodologies used in these ratings 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 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
The Global Scale Credit Ratings on this press release that are issued
by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU are endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
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.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these ratings.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings 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 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.
In addition to the information provided below please find on the ratings
tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com, for each
of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the lead rating
analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued each of the
ratings.
Gregory Frank
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Franklyn Young
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's confirms the supported debt ratings of BBVA's North American bank subsidiaries