Outlooks on backed ratings of another 5 French banks changed to positive from stable
London, 07 May 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service today revised the outlooks to positive
from stable on the long-term bank deposit and senior unsecured
ratings of Caisse Des Depots et Consignations (CDC) of Aa2, EPIC
Bpifrance's Aa2 long-term issuer rating and SFIL's
Aa3 long-term deposit and senior unsecured ratings. Moody's
concurrently affirmed all these ratings.
At the same time, Moody's affirmed and changed the outlooks
to positive from stable on the ratings backed by the French government
or by CDC of the following five entities :
Caisse Autonome de Refinancement (CAR) ;
Bpifrance Financement ;
Caisse Centrale du Crédit Immobilier de France (3CIF) ;
CDC Ixis and Ixis Corporate & Investment Bank (Ixis CIB), now
merged into Natixis.
Today's actions followed Moody's change in the outlook on
the ratings on the government of France to positive from stable.
For more details, please refer to Moody's press release dated
4 May, 2018 at https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-changes-Frances-outlook-to-positive-from-stable-affirms-Aa2--PR_383033.
RATINGS RATIONALE
--- CAISSE DES DEPOTS ET CONSIGNATIONS AND CAISSE
AUTONOME DE REFINANCEMENT
Moody's revised the outlook on CDC's long-term debt
and deposit ratings to positive from stable, in line with the revised
outlook on the rating of the French government. CDC is intrinsically
linked to the French government, which reflects its governance structure,
as well as their operational and financial ties. Therefore,
CDC's ratings result from the application of a credit substitution approach,
whereby Moody's aligns its ratings with that of the French government.
The change in the outlook of the Aa2 backed senior unsecured rating of
Caisse Autonome de Refinancement reflects the unconditional and irrevocable
guarantee from CDC.
--- EPIC BPIFRANCE AND BPIFRANCE FINANCEMENT
The change in the outlook on the Aa2 issuer rating of EPIC Bpifrance and
the Aa2 backed long-term senior unsecured ratings of its fully
guaranteed subsidiary Bpifrance Financement reflects the revised outlook
on the rating of the government of France.
EPIC Bpifrance is fully owned by the French state and benefits through
its status as an Etablissement public à caractère industriel
et commercial (EPIC) from an implicit guarantee from the state.
Its issuer rating is therefore derived from the application of a credit
substitution approach whereby it is aligned with that of the French government.
--- SFIL
The change in the outlook on the Aa3 issuer, deposit and senior
unsecured debt ratings of SFIL reflects Moody's change in outlook
on the rating of the government of France to positive from stable.
SFIL is a state-owned financial institution, held 75%
directly by the French state and 25% indirectly through CDC and
La Banque Postale. It is entrusted with a public service mandate
and holds a leading position in French public-sector financing.
As SFIL's reference shareholder, the French government is
committed to supporting the bank's solvency and liquidity through
a letter of comfort which has been communicated to the French banking
supervisor. As a consequence, the probability of government
support in case of need is very high for SFIL's issuer, deposit
and debt ratings and an improvement in the credit profile of the government
of France would very likely result in an upgrade of these ratings.
--- BACKED RATINGS OF DEBT ISSUED BY CDC IXIS and
IXIS CIB
The change in the outlook on the Aa2 backed ratings of debt issued by
CDC Ixis and Ixis CIB reflects the revised outlook on the government of
France's rating.
Following the creation of Groupe BPCE in 2009, these debt obligations
continued to be directly guaranteed by, or to benefit from recourse
to CDC. Therefore, this debt continues to be aligned with
CDC's Aa2 rating and outlook.
--- BACKED RATINGS OF CAISSE CENTRALE DU CREDIT IMMOBILIER
DE FRANCE (3CIF)
The backed senior unsecured rating on 3CIF is based on the unconditional
and irrevocable guarantee from the French government. The change
on the outlook on its Aa2 backed ratings reflects the revised outlook
on the government of France's rating.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
The ratings of CDC, EPIC Bpifrance, SFIL and the backed ratings
of Bpifrance Financement, CAR, CDC Ixis, Ixis CIB and
3CIF will likely be upgraded if the government of France's rating
is upgraded.
A downgrade is unlikely over the outlook horizon, as expressed by
the positive outlook changed to all ratings affected by today's
action. However, a downgrade of the government of France's
rating will likely result in a downgrade of all these ratings.
SFIL's ratings could also be downgraded if its standalone financial
strength deteriorates, if a change in its liability structure results
in a higher loss-given-failure for its depositors or senior
unsecured creditors, or if the probability of government support
decreases.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
Issuer: Caisse Des Depots et Consignations
..Affirmations:
....Long-term Issuer Rating,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, affirmed (P)Aa2
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
....Long-term Bank Deposits,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
..Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: Caisse Autonome de Refinancement
..Affirmation:
....Backed Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
..Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France
..Affirmations:
....Backed Senior Unsecured Medium-Term
Note Program, affirmed (P)Aa2
....Backed Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: EPIC Bpifrance
..Affirmations:
....Long-term Issuer Rating,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
..Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: Bpifrance Financement
..Affirmations:
....Backed Senior Unsecured Medium-Term
Note Program, affirmed (P)Aa2
....Backed Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
..Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: SFIL
..Affirmations:
....Long-term Bank Deposit, affirmed
Aa3, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
....Long-term Issuer Rating,
affirmed Aa3, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa3, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, affirmed (P)Aa3
..Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: CDC Ixis
..Affirmations:
....Backed Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
Issuer: IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank
..Affirmations:
....Backed Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Aa2, outlook changed to Positive from Stable
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES
The principal methodology used in rating Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier
de France, CDC Ixis, IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank
and SFIL was Banks published in April 2018. The principal methodology
used in rating Bpifrance Financement, Caisse Autonome de Refinancement,
Caisse Des Depots et Consignations and EPIC Bpifrance was Government-Related
Issuers published in August 2017. Please see the Rating Methodologies
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 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.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead rating analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the ratings.
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.
Laurent Le Mouel
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's France SAS
96 Boulevard Haussmann
Paris 75008
France
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Nicholas Hill
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
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JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
