New York, December 17, 2010 -- Moody's Investors Service changed its rating review of Marshall
& Ilsley Corporation (M&I) and its subsidiaries to review for
possible upgrade from review for possible downgrade. M&I is
rated Baa1 for senior debt and its lead bank, M&I Marshall &
Ilsley Bank, is rated C for bank financial strength and A3 for long-term
deposits. Both the holding company and the bank are rated Prime-2
for short-term obligations.
On Review for Possible Upgrade:
..Issuer: M&I Bank FSB
.... Bank Financial Strength Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently C
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently P-2
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently P-2
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
..Issuer: M&I Capital Trust C
....Preferred Stock Shelf, Placed on
Review for Possible Upgrade, currently (P)Baa3
..Issuer: M&I Capital Trust D
....Preferred Stock Shelf, Placed on
Review for Possible Upgrade, currently (P)Baa3
..Issuer: M&I Captial Trust E
....Preferred Stock Shelf, Placed on
Review for Possible Upgrade, currently (P)Baa3
..Issuer: M&I LLC
....Multiple Seniority Medium-Term
Note Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa2, (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Medium-Term
Note Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa2, (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Shelf, Placed
on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently a range of (P)Ba1 to (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Shelf, Placed
on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently a range of (P)Ba1 to (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Shelf, Placed
on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently a range of (P)Ba1 to (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Shelf, Placed
on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently a range of (P)Ba1 to (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Shelf, Placed
on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently a range of (P)Ba1 to (P)Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Baa1
..Issuer: M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank
.... Bank Financial Strength Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently C
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently P-2
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently P-2
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
....Multiple Seniority Bank Note Program,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently (P)Baa1,
(P)A3
....Multiple Seniority Bank Note Program,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently (P)Baa1,
(P)A3
....Subordinate Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Baa1
....Senior Subordinated Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Note/Takedown,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently A3
..Issuer: M&I Marshall & Ilsley Investment
II Corp.
....Preferred Stock Preferred Stock,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Baa3
..Issuer: Marshall & Ilsley Corporation
....Multiple Seniority Medium-Term
Note Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa2, (P)Baa1
....Multiple Seniority Medium-Term
Note Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa2, (P)Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Commercial Paper,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently P-2
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Baa1
The review for possible upgrade follows the announcement that Bank of
Montreal (BMO) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire M&I
in an all stock transaction valued at $4.1 billion.
BMO's plan is to combine M&I with its existing U.S.
direct banking subsidiary, Harris. Please refer to Moody's
separate press release on BMO, dated today, for a discussion
of the transaction's impact on BMO's ratings.
Moody's review of M&I's ratings will focus on the likelihood
of the transaction's completion, tentatively scheduled for
mid-2011, as well as the future corporate structure of M&I
within BMO. Depending upon M&I's ultimate placement within
the BMO structure, its holding company and bank-level ratings
would likely be upgraded to match the ratings of the entity into which
each is merged.
In the event that the transaction is terminated and M&I remains independent,
its ratings may be lowered from their current level as Moody's indicated
on November 15, 2010 when it placed M&I's ratings on review
for possible downgrade.
The last rating action on M&I was on November 15, 2010,
when Moody's placed M&I's ratings on review for possible downgrade.
The principal methodologies used in rating these issuers were Moody's
"Bank Financial Strength Ratings: Global Methodology", published
in February 2007, and "Incorporation of Joint-Default Analysis
into Moody's Bank Ratings: A Refined Methodology", published
in March 2007, and available on www.moodys.com in
the Rating Methodologies sub-directory under the Research &
Ratings tab. Other methodologies and factors that may have been
considered in the process of rating this issuer can also be found in the
Rating Methodologies sub-directory on Moody's website.
Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, reported assets of $52 billion at September 30,
2010.
New York
Allen H. Tischler
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
New York
Robert Young
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's Investors Service
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's reviews M&I for possible upgrade (sr at Baa1)