S&P upgrades Ahli United Bank

Standard & Poor's said it raised the long-term counterparty credit rating on Ahli United Bank BSC to BBB+ from BBB.

The agency also affirmed the short-term counterparty credit rating at A-2.

The outlook is stable.

The action follows the revision to BBB+ from BBB of the transfer and convertibility assessment on the Kingdom of Bahrain, S&P said.

This reflects the updated regional view of the likelihood of Gulf Cooperation Council states restricting non-sovereign access to foreign exchange, the agency said.

The rating previously was one notch below the bank's BBB+ stand-alone credit profile because the rating was capped at the level of the assessment on Bahrain, S&P said.

That assessment is now BBB+, which is the same level as the stand-alone rating on the bank, which led to the upgrade on the bank's long-term rating, the agency said.

The bank's ratings also consider its strong geographical diversification with limited credit exposure to Bahrain, S&P added.

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