Subordinated debt also placed on review for downgrade. The P-1 short term rating is affirmed
London, 21 February 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today placed on review for possible
downgrade the A1 long term bank deposit and senior debt ratings of Santander
UK, as well as the A3 dated subordinated debt rating, the
Baa1 junior subordinated debt rating and the Baa1/Baa2 preference share
ratings. The P-1 short term rating and the standalone Bank
Financial Strength Rating of C-/Baa1 is not affected by this action.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The review of Santander UK's long-term ratings follows the
February 15, 2012 announcement that the standalone bank financial
strength rating (BFSR) and the Aa3 long-term ratings of its parent
(Banco Santander SA) have been placed on review for possible downgrade,
along with many other European banks. As the review of Banco Santander
SA is not expected to result in a downgrade of more than two notches of
its long-term rating (currently Aa3) Moody's does not expect
Santander UK to be downgraded by more than one notch and therefore the
short-term Prime-1 rating is not affected. The review
of Santander UK's ratings is driven by the review and outcome for
the ratings of its parent, and will focus on the impact that the
potential lower creditworthiness of Banco Santander may have on the current
parental support uplift of 2 notches in Santander UK's ratings.
Santander UK's subordinated debt, junior subordinated debt
and preference shares have also been placed on review as they are driven
by the bank's "adjusted" standalone rating (which includes parental support).
The rating actions on the European banks reflect, to differing degrees,
the combined pressures from (i) the adverse and prolonged impact of the
euro area crisis, which makes the operating environment very difficult
for European banks; (ii) the deteriorating creditworthiness of euro
area sovereigns, which led to the adjustment of the ratings for
nine European sovereigns on 13 February 2012; and (iii) longer-term,
the substantial challenges faced by banks and securities firms with significant
capital market activities (for further details please see "Moody's
Reviews Ratings for European Banks", published on 15 February
2012).
WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
As a result of the review for downgrade an upgrade of the banks senior
debt and deposit ratings is unlikely at the current time. A downgrade
of Banco Santander is likely to lead to downgrade of Santander UK's
senior ratings. With regard to the stand-alone rating of
Santander UK positive pressure could come from maintaining the bank's
good asset quality even in the face of deteriorating economic conditions,
or credible evidence of a more favourable economic environment in the
UK both of which could positively affect our credit loss estimates.
Also consistent generation of strong new business flows which would help
strengthen the bank's franchise as well as sustained improvements in profitability
could positively impact the BFSR. Negative pressure on the BFSR
would likely stem from (i) a worse than expected deterioration in asset
quality, and/or failure to control or maintain the asset quality
which could lead to higher potential losses relative to capital,
(ii) evidence of growing risks arising from the bank's recent acquisitions
and exposures to new markets, (iii) a significant decline in pre-provision
income, or higher costs, which would limit the bank's ability
to replenish its capital cushion and (iv) deterioration in the bank's
funding position.
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: 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
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.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entities or their designated
agents and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following :
parties involved in the ratings, and public information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these review.
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.
Moody's Investors Service may have provided Ancillary or Other Permissible
Service(s) to the rated entities or their related third parties within
the two years preceding the credit rating action. Please see the
special report "Ancillary or other permissible services provided
to entities rated by MIS's EU credit rating agencies" on the
ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com for
further information.
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.
Marjan Riggi
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Johannes Wassenberg
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's reviews Santander UK's A1 long term debt and deposit rating