London, 30 October 2017 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today assigned a provisional
long-term deposit rating of (P)A1 and a standalone baseline credit
assessment (BCA) of a3 to Barclays Bank UK PLC (BB UK), the future
ring-fenced bank of Barclays Plc (Barclays, LT issuer rating
Baa2 negative). The rating assignment reflects Moody's assessment
that BB UK will have moderate asset risk, robust capitalization,
solid funding and adequate liquidity.
"We expect Barclays Bank UK to benefit from good and stable profits
from retail and business banking activities, which are underpinned
by the bank's strong franchise in the UK," said Mr.
Andrea Usai, a Senior Vice President at Moody's. "Nonetheless,
we also expect that the bank's profitability could be challenged
by weakening operating conditions in the UK and residual conduct costs
over the next 12 to 18 months."
Moody's has also assigned Counterparty Risk Assessments (CRA) of
Aa2(cr)/Prime-1(cr) and a provisional short-term deposit
rating of (P)Prime-1 to BB UK.
As a large UK banking group with deposits from retail and business customers
that amount to more than GBP25 billion, Barclays will be required
to separate its retail and business banking businesses from its other
operations, as part of the implementation of UK structural reforms
("ring-fencing"). Management has indicated it
will transfer the group's ring-fenced operations to BB UK
during 2018, well ahead of the 1 January 2019 implementation deadline.
The assignment of the (P)A1 provisional long-term deposit rating
to BB UK reflects Moody's expectation for an a3 standalone BCA and
incorporates a one-notch uplift resulting from its advanced Loss
Given Failure (LGF) analysis. The (P)A1 long term deposit rating
also includes one notch of government support, reflecting Moody's
assessment of a moderate probability of support for BB UK from the government
of the United Kingdom (Aa2 stable), if required.
Moody's will convert the assigned provisional deposit ratings of
(P)A1/(P)Prime-1 to final definitive ratings, conditional
on the set-up of BBUK in line with its expectation in 2018.
A list of assigned ratings is available at the bottom of this press release.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The assignment of an a3 BCA for BB UK reflects Moody's expectation
that Barclays' ring-fenced bank will have (1) moderate asset
risk, given that its activities will focus predominantly on secured
and unsecured lending to retail and business customers, (2) robust
capitalisation and adequate leverage, (3) good and stable profits
from the retail and business banking activities, underpinned by
the bank's strong franchise in the UK. However, Moody's
expects BB UK to hold a higher proportion of problem loans than rated
peers, partly reflecting higher exposures to unsecured retail and
business lending. Moody's also expects that BB UK's
profitability could be challenged by the weakening operating conditions
in the UK and residual conduct costs, over the next 12-18
months. The a3 BCA also incorporates Moody's assessment of
BB UK's (4) solid funding profile, owing to a large deposit
base and limited reliance on wholesale funding; and, (5) adequate
liquidity.
The (P)A1 provisional long-term deposit rating includes a one-notch
uplift resulting from Moody's advanced LGF analysis, indicating
that BB UK's junior depositors will face low losses given failure.
The rating also incorporates an additional notch in respect of government
support, reflecting Moody's assessment of a moderate probability
of support for the bank's junior depositors, from the government
of the United Kingdom if required, reflecting BB UK's systemic
importance within the UK financial sector.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
An upgrade of the bank's a3 BCA could result from a much stronger
credit risk profile, a considerable increase in profitability and
liquidity. A higher BCA could then lead to a rating upgrade.
An upgrade of BB UK's long-term deposit rating could also
result from a higher stock of bail-in-able liabilities that
would provide higher protection for junior depositors, beyond what
Moody's currently expects.
The bank's a3 BCA could be downgraded in the case of a deterioration
in operating conditions in the UK, beyond Moody's current
expectations, which would weaken BB UK's credit quality profile
and profitability. Material weakening of the bank's asset
risk and liquidity profile, lower capitalisation or risk management
failure could also lead to a lower BCA. A downgrade of the BCA
would then likely lead to a rating downgrade. The rating could
also be downgraded due to a reduction in the stock of bail-in-able
liabilities that would reduce the degree of protection for junior depositors.
LIST OF ASSIGNED RATINGS
Issuer: Barclays Bank UK PLC
Assignments:
....LT Bank Deposits, Assigned (P)A1
....ST Bank Deposits, Assigned (P)P-1
....Adjusted Baseline Credit Assessment,
Assigned a3
....Baseline Credit Assessment, Assigned
a3
....LT Counterparty Risk Assessment,
Assigned Aa2(cr)
....ST Counterparty Risk Assessment,
Assigned P-1(cr)
Outlook Actions:
....Outlook, Assigned No Outlook
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Banks published in
September 2017. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain 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 certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to
each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their
credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating.
For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain 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.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
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.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Andrea Usai
Senior Vice President
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Ana Arsov
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454