S&P rates KDB bonds A-

Standard & Poor's said it assigned its A- senior unsecured long-term foreign currency debt rating to Korea Development Bank's (foreign currency A-/stable/A-2, local currency --/--/A-1) proposed global bonds. The total issuance size of these global bonds will be about $1 billion and will be drawn down from KDB's $3 billion global shelf-registration program, which is also rated A-.

S&P said its issuer credit ratings on KDB are based on the bank's public policy role as the primary governmental financial institution that extends medium- to long-term financial facilities to support the Korean government's (foreign currency A-/stable/A-2, local currency A+/stable/A-1) industrial policy objectives. The bank is fully owned by the government.

"The ratings also incorporate the strong direct support from the Korean government, including capital injections and provision of loans," said S&P credit analyst Takahira Ogawa.

S&P said the ratings also reflect the government's legal obligation to maintain the bank's solvency.

"This statutory obligation, however, is only a sign of the government's commitment to support KDB, rather than a direct guarantee of timely payment for all of the bank's obligations," Ogawa added.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.