S&P lowers SME Bank

Standard & Poor's said it lowered SME Bank's long-term foreign-currency counterparty credit ratings to BBB- from BBB, along with its short-term counterparty credit rating A-3 from A-2 and long-term local-currency counterparty credit rating to BBB from BBB+.

S&P also affirmed the A-2 short-term local-currency rating on the bank.

The outlook remains negative.

The downgrade follows a similar action on Vnesheconombank (VEB), S&P said.

The bank is a core subsidiary of VEB, a government-related entity, with an almost certain likelihood of timely and sufficient extraordinary support, if needed, from the Russian Federation, the agency said.

SME Bank is an integral development-finance institution operating within the VEB group and bears essential responsibility for the federal government's program for the development of the small- and mid-size enterprise sector, S&P said.

This is one of the federal government's key priorities, the agency said.

© 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.