Fitch puts Garanti on positive watch

Fitch Ratings said it placed the issuer default ratings of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS and its domestic subsidiaries on Rating Watch Positive.

This follows Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA’s (BBVA; A-/stable) Nov. 19 announcement that it intends to increase its stake in Garanti to 39.9% from the current 25%.

At the same time, the agency revised down the support rating floors of Garanti, Turkiye Is Bankasi AS (Isbank) and Akbank TAS – all privately owned Turkish banks – to BB- from BB+. The revision of the support rating floors reflects a reassessment of the Turkish sovereign's ability to provide support to the banks in foreign currency.

The support rating floor of Finansbank AS was affirmed at BB-.

All other ratings of Isbank, Akbank and Finansbank, including their BBB- long-term issuer default ratings, are unaffected.

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