Sao Paulo, May 18, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service said it is continuing to review for downgrade
the standalone bank financial strength rating and the long- and
short-term global local currency deposit ratings assigned to Banco
Santander (Brasil) S.A. (Santander Brazil), following
Moody's downgrade of the ratings of its parent bank, Banco
Santander in Spain. For more information on the Banco Santander
rating downgrade, please see Moody's May 17, 2012 press
release on the Spanish banks. Moody's expects to conclude
its review of Santander Brasil's ratings by mid June.
The following ratings assigned to Banco Santander (Brasil) remain on review
for possible downgrade:
Bank Financial Strength Rating of C
Long-Term Global Local Currency Deposit Rating of A2
Short-Term Global Local Currency Deposit Rating of Prime-1
The review began on February 24, 2012.
The following ratings are not under review:
Long-Term Foreign Currency Deposit Rating of Baa2, positive
outlook
Short-Term Foreign Currency Deposit Rating of Prime-2
Long-Term Senior Unsecured Debt Rating assigned to GMTN Programme
of (P)Baa1, positive outlook
Short-term Senior Unsecured Debt Rating assigned to the GMTN Programme
of (P) Prime-2
Long-Term Brazilian National Scale Deposit Rating of Aaa.br
Short-Term Brazilian National Scale Deposit Rating of BR-1
For additional information on bank ratings, please refer to the
webpage containing Moody's related announcements http://www.moodys.com/bankratings2012
RATING RATIONALE
The ongoing review of Santander Brazil's ratings will take into
account Moody's global assessment of the correlation between a bank's
standalone credit profile and that of the sovereign in which the bank
is domiciled. The review will also factor in the linkages between
the parent bank's ratings and the Brazilian subsidiary, which
may affect Santander Brazil's local currency deposit ratings.
The review of sovereign linkage will take into account (i) the extent
to which the bank's business depends on the domestic macroeconomic
and financial environment, (ii) the degree of reliance on market-based,
and therefore more confidence-sensitive funding and (iii) the direct
or indirect exposures to domestic sovereign debt compared to Santander
Brazil's capital base. Moody's discusses this assessment
further in the rating implementation guidance "How Sovereign Credit Quality
May Affect Other Ratings" published on February 13, 2012 and in
the special comment "Banks and Sovereigns: Risk Correlations
Constrain Standalone Bank Credit Assessments" published on April
30, 2012.
The last rating action taken on Banco Santander (Brasil) was on February
24, 2012 when Moody's placed on review for downgrade the standalone
BFSR and the long- and short-term global local currency
deposit ratings of Banco Santander (Brasil). Other ratings remained
unchanged.
The methodologies used in these ratings were the "Bank Financial
Strength Ratings: Global Methodology" published in February
2007, and "Incorporation of Joint Default Analysis into Moody's
Bank Ratings: A Refined Methodology" published in March 2012.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of these methodologies.
Based in São Paulo, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.
had total assets of R$415.6 billion (US$228.2
billion) and equity of R$36.3 billion (US$383.1
million) as of March 31, 2012.
Moody'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 ".mx"
for Mexico. 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".
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
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
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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
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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
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Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
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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.
Ceres Lisboa
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's America Latina Ltda.
Avenida Nacoes Unidas, 12.551
16th Floor, Room 1601
Sao Paulo, SP 04578-903
Brazil
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Maria Celina Vansetti-Hutchins
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's America Latina Ltda.
Avenida Nacoes Unidas, 12.551
16th Floor, Room 1601
Sao Paulo, SP 04578-903
Brazil
JOURNALISTS: 800-891-2518
SUBSCRIBERS: 55-11-3043-7300
Moody's continues to review Banco Santander (Brasil)'s ratings for downgrade