S&P: FirstRand to negative

Standard & Poor's said it revised the outlook on FirstRand Bank Ltd. and its nonoperational holding company FirstRand Ltd. to negative from stable.

The agency also said it affirmed the BBB+/A-2 long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings and zaAA/zaA-1 national scale ratings on the FirstRand Bank, along with the BBB/A-2 long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings and zaAA-/zaA-1 national scale ratings on FirstRand.

The outlook revision follows a similar rating action on its sovereign, South Africa, S&P said.

The ratings could be downgraded if the economic and social problems pressure social policy in the run-up to the 2014 presidential elections, the agency said.

The difficulty of addressing economic and social imbalances could be exacerbated by increasing external pressure in a context of sluggish global growth or investor risk aversion, S&P said.

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