NOTE: On October 18, 2012, the press release was revised as follows: Added a hybrid (hyb) indicator to the non-cumulative preferred stock of Zions Bancorporation and to the preferred stock of Zions Capital Trust B in the press release’s debt list. Revised release follows.
New York, October 03, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service placed the long-term ratings of Zions
Bancorporation and its subsidiaries on review for upgrade. Zions
Bancorporation is rated B1 for subordinated debt and its lead operating
bank, Zions First National Bank, has a standalone bank financial
strength rating of D+, which maps to a baseline credit assessment
of ba1. The bank's long-term deposit rating is Ba1.
The short-term Not-Prime ratings of Zions First National
Bank and other bank affiliates were also placed on review. The
short-term Not-Prime ratings of Zions Bancorporation were
affirmed and are not on review. The bank financial strength rating
of D+ was affirmed, but its baseline credit assessment of ba1
was placed on review for upgrade.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's review for possible upgrade follows Zions' successful
steps to reduce its asset concentrations, which has lead to lower
credit costs and improved profitability. This was a product of
the bank both reducing the construction lending portion of its commercial
real estate (CRE) portfolio and enhancing its capital base. Its
CRE exposure is approximately 2.3 times its Moody's adjusted
tangible common equity (TCE) as of June 30, 2012, incorporating
Zions' recent TARP repayment. Combined with its portfolio
of trust preferred CDOs, which Moody's believes have a high
correlation of performance with CRE, the CRE and CDO exposure equals
2.7 times TCE, which is a high level, but well down
from 5 times TCE in 2008.
The review will focus on Zions' comparative expected long-term
performance given its franchise positioning. In particular,
Moody's will consider tactical and strategic efforts that Zions
may undertake in an effort to avoid the rebuilding of asset concentrations
in its portfolio. As well, Moody's will focus on the
risks that emanate from Zions' high reliance on net interest income
to generate total earnings.
The last rating action on Zions was on December 8, 2011 when long-term
ratings were upgraded.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Consolidated
Global Bank Rating Methodology published in 2012. Please see the
Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
Zions Bancorporation headquartered in Salt Lake City Utah reported total
assets of $53.4 billion as of June 30, 2012.
On Review for Possible Upgrade:
..Issuer: Amegy Bank National Association
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently NP
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently NP
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba1
..Issuer: Amegy Corporation
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba3
..Issuer: California Bank & Trust
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently NP
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently NP
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba1
..Issuer: Nevada State Bank
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently NP
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently NP
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba1
..Issuer: Zions Bancorporation
....Pref. Stock Non-cumulative
Preferred Stock, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
B3(hyb)
....Subordinate Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently B1
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently
(P)Ba3
..Issuer: Zions Capital Trust B
....Pref. Stock Preferred Stock,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently B2(hyb)
..Issuer: Zions First National Bank
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
.... OSO Rating, Placed on Review for
Possible Upgrade, currently NP
.... Deposit Rating, Placed on Review
for Possible Upgrade, currently NP
....OSO Senior Unsecured OSO Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba2
....Senior Unsecured Deposit Rating,
Placed on Review for Possible Upgrade, currently Ba1
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Amegy Bank National Association
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: Amegy Corporation
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: California Bank & Trust
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: Nevada State Bank
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: Zions Bancorporation
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: Zions Capital Trust B
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
..Issuer: Zions First National Bank
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The Global Scale Credit Ratings on this press release that are issued
by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU are endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
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.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing
a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning a rating 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 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.
Thuy Nguyen
Asst Vice President - Analyst
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 Franklyn 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 reviews Zions for upgrade