New York, March 07, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary
credit opinion on Associated Banc-Corp and includes certain regulatory
disclosures regarding its ratings. This release does not constitute
any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for Associated Banc-Corp
and its affiliate.
Moody's current ratings on Associated Banc-Corp and its affiliates
are:
Senior Unsecured (domestic currency) ratings of Baa1
Subordinate (domestic currency) ratings of Baa2
Subordinate MTN Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Baa2
Preferred Stock (domestic currency) ratings of Ba1; (hyb)
Commercial Paper (domestic currency) ratings of P-2
Associated Bank, N.A.
Senior Unsecured Bank Note Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)A3
Long Term Bank Deposits (domestic currency) ratings of A3
Long Term Other Senior Obligations ratings of A3
Bank Financial Strength ratings of C
Subordinate Bank Note Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Baa1
Short Term Bank Note Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)P-2
Short Term Bank Deposits (domestic currency) ratings of P-2
Short Term Other Senior Obligations ratings of P-2
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's assigns a bank financial strength rating (BFSR) of C to
Associated Bank, N.A., the lead bank of Associated
Banc-Corp (Associated). The bank is also rated A3 for long-term
deposits. The holding company is rated Baa1 for senior debt and
Ba1 for non-cumulative preferred stock.
Associated's ratings continue to be supported by its core direct banking
franchise in the Upper Midwest, centered on Wisconsin. That
franchise generates less pre-provision income than it had in prior
years, as Associated's loan portfolio and net interest margin
have declined compared with their pre-recession levels, reflecting
the challenging economy and real estate market, as well as persistent
low interest rates. While loan growth may continue at a solid pace
in 2012, we do not expect significant improvement in Associated's
pre-provision income, particularly given the rate environment
and the industry-wide pressures on revenue, some of which
are being driven by regulatory initiatives.
Associated's ratings also reflect its good local core deposit base
and healthy capital profile. The ratings similarly incorporate
Associated's credit challenges, which include its still high,
though dramatically improved level of nonperforming loans, and its
elevated operating efficiency ratio, which has weakened relative
to prior years along with the decline in pre-provision income.
Like other banks, Associated has recently sought growth in areas
outside of construction and development, where it previously had
a risk concentration that performed poorly. In Associated's case,
it has targeted C&I lending in the greater Chicagoland market,
which is the Midwest's largest market and is adjacent to its core Wisconsin
footprint. While that strategy is reasonable, we note that
Chicago is a highly fragmented and competitive market that is also being
targeted by other institutions. The success of this endeavor is
therefore not assured and it will take time to assess the franchise benefits
of this strategy.
Rating Outlook
The rating outlook is stable.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
Positive rating pressure would emerge if Associated materially enhanced
its profitability metrics while maintaining its strong capital profile.
In addition, a sustained period of low credit costs would further
support upward ratings movement. We consider any future upgrades
to be a long-term endeavor.
What Could Change the Rating - Down
Negative rating pressure would develop if Associated's pre-provision
income weakened further and/or if its recent asset quality improvements
were to reverse.
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
Although these credit ratings have been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, the credit
ratings are deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. 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 each of the ratings are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, and confidential and proprietary
Moody's Investors Service information.
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 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.
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 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 Disclosures on Credit Ratings of Associated Banc-Corp