Moody's puts Access, Diamond banks on review

Moody's Investors Service said it placed on review for downgrade Access Bank plc's B2 long-term local-currency deposit rating, B3 long-term foreign-currency deposit rating, B2 baseline credit assessment and adjusted baseline credit assessment, B1 long-term counterparty risk rating and its B1(cr) long-term counterparty risk assessment.

Moody's also said it placed Diamond Bank plc's Caa1 long-term deposit ratings, Caa3 baseline credit assessment and adjusted baseline credit assessment of Caa1 on review for upgrade.

The upgrade reviews follow the approval of the banks' merger by the Securities and Exchange Commission after a preliminary approval of the transaction by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the agency explained.

Access's ratings are placed on review for downgrade to reflect the potential negative pressures on its capital and asset risk metrics as a result of the merger, Moody's said.

Diamond's review for upgrade reflects the expected convergence of its creditworthiness and ratings with those of Access upon completion of the transaction, 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.