Fitch reviews Barclays, rates Barclays UK

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed Barclays plc's (BB) long- and short-term issuer default ratings at A/F1 and viability rating at a.

The A long-term issuer default rating of Barclays Bank plc (BB plc) was placed on rating watch positive.

Fitch also assigned expected ratings to Barclays Bank UK plc, the entity which will become the domestic ring-fenced bank, at long- and short-term issuer default ratings A+(EXP)/F1(EXP) and viability rating a(EXP).

The outlook on the issuer default rating is stable.

“The RWP on BB plc's IDR reflects our expectation that the bank will over the next six to 12 months have received sufficient senior debt from its parent holding company, which will become junior to BB plc's external senior debt,” Fitch said in a news release.

“We believe that this will be achieved soon after the bank receives clarification from the UK's resolution authority, the Bank of England, on how to structure the subordination of this debt so that it protects the bank's external creditors in case of failure and qualifies for internal minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).”

“At that point we expect to upgrade the IDR of BB plc by one notch to A+,” the agency added in the release.

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