Frankfurt am Main, February 21, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today taken the following actions
on the ratings of several Austrian banks benefiting from the creditworthiness
of Austrian federal states or municipalities, on which Moody's
took actions on 15 February 2012:
(i) The ratings of the senior unsecured and subordinated debt instruments
of several banks that are guaranteed by individual Austrian federal states
or municipalities have been changed to capture Moody's assessment
of the creditworthiness of the respective guarantor.
(ii) The ratings of Pfandbriefstelle der Oesterreichischen Landes-Hypothekenbanken
(Pfandbriefstelle) have been placed on review for downgrade. The
review will mainly focus on the impact that the gradual credit deterioration
of its multiple member banking groups and/or guarantors might have on
Pfandbriefstelle's debt.
(iii) The outlook on Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG's
(VLH) A1 long-term senior debt and deposit ratings was changed
to negative from stable, reflecting Moody's assessment of
the weakened credit profile of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg
(unrated), the majority owner of the bank.
Today's actions were triggered by Moody's action on European
sub-sovereign ratings, including several Austrian federal
states, on 15 February 2012. For full details, please
refer to:
http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-takes-action-on-European-sub-sovereigns-following-action-on--PR_237811
Please see the end of the press release for a detailed list of the affected
ratings. All other ratings of the listed banks remain unaffected
by this rating action.
RATINGS RATIONALE
-- "Grandfathered" debt instruments which are
guaranteed by individual Austrian federal states
Following the end of statutory guarantees -- as a result
of an agreement between the EU Commission and the Austrian government
in 2003 -- Moody's ratings for state-guaranteed
senior unsecured and subordinated debt in Austria are derived from the
creditworthiness of the guarantors, i.e., the
respective Austrian federal state or municipality and the maturity of
the respective debt instrument:
(i) Until their respective maturity if issued prior to 1 April 2003
(ii) Until 30 September 2017 if issued between April 2003 and prior to
1 April 2007
As a result, any changes to the creditworthiness of the guarantor
have direct implications for the grandfathered securities.
-- Pfandbriefstelle
The Aaa senior unsecured and subordinated ratings of Pfandbriefstelle
were placed on review for downgrade, reflecting the joint and several
guarantees provided by its nine member banking groups and their statutory
guarantors, the respective Austrian states, in light of the
gradual credit deterioration of Pfandbriefstelle's member banking
groups and/or guarantors. During the review, Moody's
will re-assess whether its requirements for applying credit substitution
to the bank's ratings are fulfilled. Please also refer to
the special report "Moody's Identifies Core Principles of
Guarantees for Credit Substitution", published 11 November
2010.
-- Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG
The outlook on the A1 senior unsecured debt and deposit ratings of VLH
was changed to negative from stable, reflecting Moody's assessment
of the weakened credit profile of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg
(unrated), the majority owner of the bank.
VLH's long-term ratings continue to be underpinned by (i)
its D+/Baa3 standalone credit strength; (ii) Moody's assessment
of the high probability of support from the Austrian Federal State of
Vorarlberg (unrated); and (iii) Moody's expectation of systemic
support from the Austrian government.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
Moody's believes that upward pressure on the state-guaranteed
debt affected by today's actions is unlikely to develop in view
of the challenging nature of the operating environment as well as weakened
sovereign and sub-sovereign credit profiles.
The negative outlook on VLH's long-term ratings reflects
the lack of upward pressure on these ratings.
Downward pressure on the affected state-guaranteed debts would
be prompted by further deterioration of the creditworthiness of the respective
sub-sovereigns.
A downgrade of VLH's long-term ratings could be triggered by (i)
a change in its standalone credit strength; (ii) a deterioration
in the creditworthiness of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg;
(iii) a weakening of VLH's relationship with the state, or a perceived
weakening of implicit support; (iv) a change in ownership; or
(v) a negative change in systemic support.
DETAILED LIST OF RATING ACTIONS
(1) Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG
- backed long-term debt and deposit ratings: downgraded
to A1 negative, from Aa3 negative
- backed subordinated ratings: downgraded to A2 negative,
from A1 negative
(2) Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank AG
- backed subordinated ratings: downgraded to A2 negative,
from A1 negative
All the above ratings are backed by the State of Carinthia (rated A1 negative).
(3) Hypo Tirol Bank AG
- backed long-term debt and deposit ratings: Aaa,
on review for downgrade, from Aaa stable
- backed subordinated ratings: Aa1, on review for downgrade,
from Aa1 stable
All the above ratings are backed by the State of Tyrol (unrated).
(4) UniCredit Bank Austria AG
- backed senior unsecured ratings: outlook on Aa2 changed
to negative from stable
- backed subordinated ratings: outlook on Aa3 changed to
negative from stable
Creditanstalt AG
- backed subordinated ratings, assumed by UniCredit Bank
Austria AG: outlook on Aa3 changed to negative from stable
All the above ratings are backed by the City of Vienna (rated Aaa negative).
(5) Pfandbriefstelle
- backed senior unsecured ratings: Aaa, on review for
downgrade, from stable
- backed subordinated ratings: (P)Aaa, on review for
downgrade, from stable
All the above ratings reflect the joint and several guarantees provided
by the bank's nine member banking groups and its statutory guarantors.
(6) Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG
- senior unsecured debt and deposit ratings: outlook on A1
changed to negative from stable
- short-term rating: Prime-1 affirmed
- backed long-term debt and deposit ratings: outlook
on Aaa changed to negative from stable
- backed subordinated ratings: outlook on Aa1 changed to
negative from stable
All the above backed ratings are guaranteed by the State of Vorarlberg
(unrated).
All the other ratings of the above listed banks are unaffected by this
rating action.
PRINCIPAL 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: A Refined
Methodology published in March 2007, Moody's Guidelines for Rating
Bank Hybrid Securities and Subordinated Debt published in November 2009,
and Government-Related Issuers: Methodology published in
July, 2010.
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 ratings 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 Hypo Tirol
Bank AG and Pfandbriefstelle der Oesterreich. Landes-Hyp.
satisfactory for the purposes of issuing these reviews.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank
International AG, Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank AG, UniCredit
Bank Austria AG and Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG
satisfactory for the purposes 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.
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.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the issuer page on www.moodys.com for Moody's
regulatory disclosure of the name of the lead analyst and the office that
has issued the credit rating.
The relevant Releasing Office for each rating is identified under the
Debt/Tranche List section on the Ratings tab of each issuer/entity page
on moodys.com
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.
Mathias Kuelpmann
Senior Vice President
Financial Institutions Group
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
Carola Schuler
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Deutschland GmbH
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's takes actions on Austrian banks, following actions on European sub-sovereigns
