Fitch rates Ahli United Bank floaters BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it has assigned Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank BSC's $100 million subordinated step-up floating-rate notes due 2015 a long-term rating of BBB-.

This rating is two notches below the bank's issuer rating of long-term BBB+ and one notch below the bank's senior unsecured debt of BBB, reflecting the fact that depositors in Bahrain have preference in liquidation. The bank's other ratings are short-term F2, individual B/C and support 2.

The outlook is stable.

The bank was formed in 2000 as a holding company of subsidiaries in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the U.K., but is also licensed by the Bahrain Monetary Agency as a bank in its own right and conducts both onshore and offshore banking activities, Fitch said.

In the U.K., it has developed expertise in specialized commercial banking areas, property finance and private banking. The government of Kuwait, through the Public Institution for Social Security, is currently the bank's largest shareholder with a 20% stake.

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