New York, September 20, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service placed the long-term ratings of
US Bancorp and its subsidiaries on review for possible downgrade.
US Bancorp is rated Aa3 for senior debt and its lead operating bank,
U.S. Bank National Association, has a standalone bank
financial strength rating of B+, which maps to a baseline credit
assessment of aa2. The bank's long-term deposit rating
is Aa2. The short-term Prime-1 ratings of US Bancorp
and its subsidiaries were affirmed and are not on review.
RATINGS RATIONALE
US Bancorp is a strong, diverse, and well-managed bank
that generated positive earnings with comparatively limited volatility
throughout the recent downturn. That performance resulted in a
significant competitive advantage and allowed US Bancorp to invest in
its business at a time when many other banks were internally focused.
Nonetheless, the rating review will consider US Bancorp's
long-term ability to sustain its consistent, superior performance
in light of increasing competition now that its peers have largely returned
to health and are actively seeking growth.
In addition, although US Bancorp's recent investments have
thus far supported its earnings growth, some of its expanded businesses,
like mortgage banking, expose it to incremental volatility,
and this will be considered during the review. In Moody's
opinion, this increase in potential volatility is particularly pertinent
for US Bancorp because its capital profile, while healthy,
does not distinguish it from its peers. Moreover, US Bancorp
actively manages its capital as reflected in management's high total
targeted payout ratio of 60-80%.
"Despite the review, US Bancorp's position near the top of our rated
bank universe is not in question", said Moody's Senior Vice President
Allen Tischler. Indeed, the rating agency noted that if a
downgrade results from this review, it is expected to be limited
to one notch. This reflects US Bancorp's superior operating efficiency,
revenue diversity, strong credit quality and limited concentration
risk.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Consolidated
Global Bank Rating Methodology published in 2012. Please see the
Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
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.
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 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.
Allen H. Tischler
Senior Vice President
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 places US Bancorp on review for possible downgrade (senior at Aa3)