Moody's lifts three Lebanese bank views to stable

Moody's Investors Service said it changed the outlook on the financial strength ratings of the three rated Lebanese banks', BLOM Bank, Bank Audi and Byblos Bank, to stable from negative.

All deposit and debt ratings of these banks remain unaffected by this rating action, the agency said.

The negative outlooks have been in place since March 2005, when Moody's downgraded all three banks' FSRs to D from D+, following a sovereign downgrade to B3 from B2 triggered by political turmoil and the negative impact that this had on both the macro-economic environment and the country's financial system, Moody's noted.

Although the banks continue to be heavily exposed to a low-rated sovereign through government securities and CDs issued by the central bank, Moody's said it takes comfort from their increasing efforts to diversify their revenue base outside of Lebanon.

© 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.