Moody's may cut Kazakhstan banks

Moody's Investors Service said it placed the issuer and deposit ratings of five government-owned Kazakh financial institutions on review for possible downgrade.

The action follows the recent default of Astana Finance, another Kazakh government-related issuer, in which the government holds a 25.5% equity stake. The government has not provided any support to Astana Finance to avoid a default, the agency noted.

The review is likely to result in a closer alignment of the bank's issuer and deposit ratings to their stand-alone financial strength, Moody's said.

House Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan's Baa3 long-term local-currency deposit rating and prime-3 short-term local-currency deposit rating were placed on review for possible downgrade. Its local-currency deposit rating benefits from a high probability of systemic support that results in a five-notch uplift from the B2 baseline credit assessment.

Agrarian Credit Corp.'s Baa3 long-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings and prime-2 short-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The issuer ratings benefit from a high probability of systemic support that results in a five-notch uplift.

Development Bank of Kazakhstan's Baa2 long-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The local-currency issuer rating benefits from a high probability of systemic support that results in a four-notch uplift.

Kazakhstan Mortgage Co.'s Baa3 long-term local-currency issuer rating was placed on review for possible downgrade. The local-currency issuer rating benefits from a high probability of systemic support resulting in a four-notch uplift.

Kazagrofinance's Baa3 long-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings and prime-3 short-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The local-currency issuer rating benefits from a high probability of systemic support that results in a five-notch uplift.

© 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.