Moody's lifts nine Saudi banks

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the foreign-currency deposit ratings of nine Saudi Arabian banks to A2/Prime-1 following the upgrade of Saudi Arabia's foreign-currency bank deposit ceilings to A2/Prime-1, which reflected the marked improvement in the country's economic fundamentals.

The affected banks are National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group, Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, The Saudi British Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, Saudi Hollandi Bank and The Saudi Investment Bank.

With the exception of Saudi Investment Bank, whose ratings carry a stable outlook, the outlook for the foreign-currency deposit ratings of the banks is positive, reflecting the outlook for the country ceiling.

The agency said the foreign-currency deposit ratings of the nine banks are set at the country ceiling of A2/Prime-1 based on the banks' fundamental strengths, their importance to the system and the strong likelihood of support from the Saudi Arabian authorities, should the need arise.

However, any country ceiling upgrades in the future will not automatically lead to upgrades in the foreign-currency deposit ratings of all rated Saudi banks, Moody's said, because imputing systemic support in the ratings of banks with low financial strength ratings may not push their foreign-currency deposit ratings higher.

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