Mostly Positive Rating Actions On Spanish Banks
On Largely Completed Provisioning Of Legacy
Problem Assets
Primary Credit Analyst:
Elena Iparraguirre, Madrid (34) 91-389-6963; [email protected]
Secondary Contacts:
Antonio Rizzo, Madrid (34) 91-788-7205; [email protected]
Lucia Gonzalez, Madrid (34) 91 788 7219; [email protected]
Miriam Fernandez, CFA, Madrid (34) 91-788-7232; [email protected]
Philippe Raposo, Paris (33) 1-4420-7377; [email protected]
OVERVIEW
• In our view, the Spanish banking system has largely absorbed the credit
cost of the bursting of the real estate bubble and subsequent deep
economic recession.
• We expect the economic recovery to continue and the real estate market to
gain more dynamism.
• Progress on fiscal consolidation and a long-lasting alignment of credit
conditions with other eurozone partners could ultimately strengthen the
economy's resilience to shocks.
• While banks' structural reliance on external funding is likely to remain
higher than peers, they could benefit from a further improvement in
investor confidence, and reduced risk with respect to the sovereign's
ability to act as an effective backstop to the financial system.
• We consider that the economic risks faced by Spanish banks have reduced
and we see the trend for both economic and industry risks as positive.
• We are raising the long- and short-term counterparty ratings on two
Spanish financial institutions and the long-term ratings on another three.
• We are revising our outlooks to positive on most long-term ratings on
Spanish banks.
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MADRID (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 9, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that
it took the following rating actions:
• Raised the long- and short-term counterparty ratings on Bankinter S.A. to
'BBB/A-2' from 'BBB-/A-3', with a positive outlook.
• Raised the long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Bankia
S.A. to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BB+/B', with a positive outlook.
• Raised the long-term rating on BFA Tenedora de Acciones S.A.U. to 'BB+'
from 'BB-', with a positive outlook. We affirmed the short-term rating at
'B'.
• Raised the long-term rating on Ibercaja Banco S.A. to 'BB+' from 'BB',
with a positive outlook. We affirmed the short-term rating at 'B'.
• Raised the long-term rating on Abanca Corporacion Bancaria S.A. to 'BB-'
from 'B+', with a positive outlook. We affirmed the short-term rating at
'B'.
• Revised to positive the outlooks on the long-term ratings on Banco
Santander S.A., Caixabank S.A., Cecabank S.A., Kutxabank S.A., and Caja
Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Credito. We affirmed the long- and
short-term ratings on these entities.
• Affirmed the 'BB+/B' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings and
maintained the positive outlook on Banco de Sabadell S.A.
• Revised the outlook to stable from positive on Banco Popular Espanol S.A.
and affirmed the long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings at
'B+/B'.
• Affirmed the ratings on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. and its core
subsidiary BBVA Global Markets B.V., and on Santander Consumer Finance
S.A., a highly strategic subsidiary of Banco Santander S.A. The outlook
on the three entities is stable.
The rating actions above take into account that, in our view, Spanish banks
now face lower economic risks. We consider that banks have largely absorbed
the credit costs of the bursting of the real estate bubble, which started to
correct almost nine years ago, and the deep economic recession that followed.
As a result, we now expect any remaining provisioning impact from the
correction of previous imbalances to be limited. The economic backdrop has
also become more favorable and supportive of the banking industry recovery,
thanks to solid economic growth, a gradual recovery of the property market,
and reduced political uncertainty following the formation of a government
(albeit a minority one) after two rounds of elections.
We estimate that, from the end of 2008 to the end of 2016, Spanish banks
recognized provisions equivalent to a massive 15.5% of the loan book
outstanding at the beginning of that period. Credit losses have been
consistently declining since their peak in 2012, however, and we feel
confident they will reach normalized levels this year at about 56 basis points
(bps) of average loans.
But, banks' stock of nonperforming assets (NPAs), which we estimate at 15% of
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loans as of the end of 2016, will decline more gradually. The workout process,
including the sale of real estate assets foreclosed or received in lieu of
payment, which account for almost 40% of the stock of NPAs, will take several
years, even in the context of more dynamic real estate market and supportive
economic fundamentals. High stocks of NPAs--which we estimate would still
account for about 11% of loans by the end of 2018--will thus continue to weigh
on banks' balance sheets and profits for some time, and represent a tail risk
if the economic situation were to reverse.
In our view, banks' profitability could moderately improve over the next few
years, but returns are unlikely to reach a level in line with the cost of
capital, as growth in business volumes will most likely not be strong enough
to compensate for the negative effect of low rates on earnings' generation. We
thus believe that the operating environment will remain quite competitive.
Reduced economic risks mean lower unexpected losses in a stress scenario.
Banks' current capital bases would therefore have stronger capacity to
withstand such losses. We have thus revised up the risk-adjusted capital (RAC)
forecasts for all banks we rate, on average by about 56 bps. This capital
strengthening was sufficient to support an upgrade in only a few cases:
Bankia, Abanca, and Ibercaja. We revised upwards the stand-alone credit
profiles (SACPs) of these three banks and therefore also raised the issue
ratings assigned to their hybrid debt. In Bankia's case, we raised the rating
on its nondeferrable subordinated debt by two notches because the SACP
improving to 'bbb-' led us to reduce the notching differential for
subordination to one notch from two notches.
The anchor--our starting point for assigning issuer credit ratings to
banks--remains 'bbb-' for banks operating primarily in Spain.
Different from other banks' upgrades, our upgrade of Bankinter chiefly
reflects the bank's success in enhancing its liquidity position. Bankinter
further narrowed its commercial gap (on the back of strong deposit growth) and
meaningfully reduced reliance on short-term funding sources (mostly repos),
and, as a result, its liquid assets now comfortably cover potential short-term
funding needs.
Following these upgrades, only five of the 15 financial institutions we rate
in Spain have speculative-grade long-term ratings. Furthermore, for most
institutions, the current long-term ratings are either one or two notches
higher than at the weakest point of the post-2008 period.
For most rated banks, our revision of the outlook to positive reflects that
their creditworthiness could benefit from what we see as a likely more
supportive environment. A potential improvement of our assessment of either
economic or industry risks would lead us to revise upward the anchor for banks
operating primarily in Spain to 'bbb'.
We continue to see a positive trend for economic risks. The economy is likely
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to maintain its momentum, growing at a sound pace above that of peer
countries, which would support further job creation. We forecast real GDP
growth at 2.3% for 2017 and 2.0% for 2018. In that scenario, it is likely that
fiscal deficits will continue reducing, public sector debt will stabilize, and
that Spanish credit conditions will continue to converge with the eurozone
average, all of which could offer the government some room to manoeuver to
support the economy if needed and ultimately improve the economy's resilience
to shocks.
We also view the trend for industry risks as positive. We believe there is a
one-in-three chance that the favorable macroeconomic dynamics could lead us to
improve our assessment of industry funding risk if they result in higher
investor confidence in the Spanish banking system, easier funding for banks,
and reduced risk with respect to the government's ability to act as an
effective potential backstop if banks were to encounter funding difficulties.
Our revision of the outlook on Banco Popular to stable from positive reflects
our view that the bank is failing to restore its financial profile as planned.
Popular's just-published 2016 results showed higher-than-expected losses, with
provisions for problem loans and real estate assets exceeding by about 20% the
guidance the bank provided in May 2016, when it launched its €2.5 billion
rights issue. In spite of higher provisions, the bank did not manage to meet
its previously announced target of reaching 50% coverage of NPAs by the end of
2016 (instead coverage ended the year at 45%), partly because a
reclassification exercise led to a €3 billion inflow of new NPAs. Finally,
since the announcement of the rights issue, Popular has shown some
disagreements between its major shareholders. This ultimately led to the
departure of the chairman, with a replacement expected to take office on Feb.
20, 2017. We understand that the previously announced 2016-2018 strategy and
targets have been put on hold until the new chair is in place.
The revision of the outlook on Banco Santander to positive reflects prospects
of the bank accelerating the issuance of debt instruments eligible to absorb
losses in resolution in 2017 and 2018, with Santander potentially reaching a
substantial ALAC (additional loss-absorbing capacity) buffer that would reduce
the default risk on more senior obligations if the bank is resolved. See
"Outlook On Banco Santander 'A-' Long-Term Rating Revised To Positive On
Expected Sizable ALAC Buffer; Ratings Affirmed," published Feb. 9, 2017, on
RatingsDirect.
Our outlooks on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., its core subsidiary BBVA
Global Markets S.A., and Santander Consumer Finance S.A. remain stable, as any
potential ratings uplift is currently constrained by the sovereign
creditworthiness of Spain (BBB+/Stable/A-2).
OUTLOOKS
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.
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The stable outlook on BBVA mirrors the stable outlook on the long-term
sovereign rating on Spain. We would not rate the bank above the sovereign,
although we acknowledge that the bank's stand-alone creditworthiness could
strengthen over the next 12-24 months in the context of the likely more
supportive economic and operating environment in Spain. This is because BBVA's
relatively high business concentration in Spain, where almost half of its loan
book is booked, would make it unlikely that the bank would continue to meet
its obligations in a timely manner in the hypothetical event of a Spanish
sovereign default.
We could consider revising upward the bank's SACP, however, if risks on the
domestic economic environment were to ease, while emerging risks in other
markets, namely Turkey and Mexico, remain under control; or if we were to
improve our assessment of industry risks in the Spanish banking system.
We expect BBVA will continue developing its strong retail banking franchises
in its countries of operation, with a focus on strengthening profitability
while preserving what we see as a conservative strategy. We consider that the
bank will have the flexibility to accommodate emerging risks in Turkey and
Mexico thanks to the ongoing recovery of its home market. We do not envisage
inorganic growth at this point; instead we expect the bank to focus on
leveraging its latest acquisitions (Catalunya Banc in Spain and Garanti in
Turkey).
We expect BBVA's asset-quality indicators to continue to gradually improve,
with likely favorable developments in Spain more than compensating potential
moderate increases in problematic exposures in Latin America and the U.S.
Returns are also likely to improve, albeit moderately. The ultra-low interest
rates in Europe will constrain the bank's ability to improve revenues in
Spain, while weaker foreign currencies would likely reduce the contribution of
operations abroad to the group's results. We believe the bank's RAC ratio will
continue to strengthen through earnings generation, likely reaching 7.5%-8% by
the end of 2018. We expect the bank's capacity to absorb losses in a severe
downturn scenario to remain a ratings strength. We also expect the bank to
preserve its sound funding and liquidity profile.
For us to raise the ratings on BBVA, we would have to have raised the
long-term sovereign rating on Spain. Additionally, the bank's stand-alone
creditworthiness would have to improve (most likely if we were to perceive
that risks have eased on either the economic or operating front in Spain); the
bank would have to substantially improve its profitability, outperforming its
peer group; or the bank would have to build up a large enough ALAC buffer.
The ratings on BBVA could come under pressure if we were to lower the
sovereign credit rating on Spain or if the bank's capacity to absorb the
impact of adverse shocks were to meaningfully reduce.
Caixabank S.A.
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The positive outlook on Caixabank reflects the possibility of an upgrade in
the next 12-24 months if Spain's economic and operating environment becomes
more supportive, ultimately resulting in a strengthening of banks'
creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for Spanish banks.
The positive outlook also assumes that the acquisition of Portuguese Banco BPI
will not meaningfully weaken the bank's capital position, and that Banco BPI
will be integrated as planned, without unexpected material problems. We expect
that Caixabank will continue gradually strengthening its profitability and
capital and reducing its stock of problematic assets, while maintaining a
balanced funding profile and comfortable liquidity.
We could revise the outlook back to stable if we don't see prospects of the
economic or operating environment in Spain becoming more supportive for banks,
or if other risks offset the potential benefits of a likely more supportive
environment. For example, this could happen if the acquisition and integration
of BPI faces meaningful setbacks that we believe could impair the bank's
business and financial profile, or if Caixabank's capital position weakens and
we see risks of the bank not being able to restore it.
Bankinter S.A.
The positive outlook on Bankinter indicates the possibility of an upgrade over
the next 12-24 months if Spain's economic and operating environment becomes
more supportive, ultimately resulting in a strengthening of banks
creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for Spanish banks.
That aside, we expect that Bankinter will continue strengthening its capital,
reaching a RAC ratio of around 8% in the next two years. We anticipate that it
will maintain conservative underwriting standards while growing its loan book,
integrate and develop successfully Portuguese activities, and keep reliance on
short-term wholesale financing contained.
We could revise the outlook back to stable if we don't see prospects of the
economic or operating environment in Spain easing further for banks, or if
Bankinter's risk appetite increases as it keeps steady loan growth or its
funding profile again shows an increasing reliance on short-term sources.
Cecabank S.A.
The positive outlook reflects the possibility that we could raise our
long-term rating on Cecabank in the next 12-24 months if Spain's economic and
operating environment becomes more supportive, resulting in a higher anchor
for banks operating primarily in Spain. An upgrade would also depend on
Cecabank proving able to preserve its franchise and business model relative to
peers.
The positive outlook also assumes that Cecabank's solvency will remain strong
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and that its use of central bank financing, if any, will be limited.
We could revise the outlook to stable if we don't see risks easing in Spain's
economic or operating environment. We could also revise the outlook to stable
if we saw signs of Cecabank's business prospects deteriorating.
Kutxabank S.A.
The positive outlook on Kutxabank indicates the possibility of an upgrade over
the next 12-24 months if Spain's economic and operating environment becomes
more supportive, ultimately resulting in a strengthening of the bank's
creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for Spanish banks.
In the event of risks in the economic environment abating, Kutxabank's capital
could also strengthen further. However, we consider it unlikely that we would
change our view of the bank's capital strength compared to the risks it faces.
We expect that Kutxabank's operating profitability will gradually improve and
that the bank will steadily reduce its non-core portfolio of equity stakes.
Moreover, we also consider that the bank's asset quality will keep
outperforming the domestic system, with problem assets set to decline to just
below 8% of gross loans by the end of 2018.
We could revise the outlook to stable if we don't perceive prospects of the
economic and operating environment for Spanish banks easing.
Bankia S.A. and BFA Tenedora de Acciones, S.A.U.
The positive outlook on Bankia S.A. indicates the possibility of Spain's
economic and operating environment becoming more supportive, ultimately
resulting in a strengthening of banks' creditworthiness in the next 12-24
months and therefore a higher anchor for banks operating primarily in Spain.
We expect that, over this year and next, Bankia will gradually continue to
strengthen its solvency through earnings retention and issuance of hybrid
instruments, reducing its stock of problematic assets, while maintaining a
balanced funding profile and comfortable liquidity. At present, our ratings do
not incorporate any impact on Bankia's business and financial profiles
stemming from the potential acquisition of Banco Mare Nostrum S.A., since we
do not have sufficient visibility on whether the deal will go through nor its
terms.
We could revise the outlook back to stable if we don't see prospects of the
economic or operating environment in Spain easing further for banks, or other
risks offset the potential benefits of a likely more supportive environment.
This could happen if the group's capitalization were to materially weaken, for
example as a result of an acquisition, BFA upstreaming significant capital to
the state, or the bank facing material unexpected provisioning needs related
to legacy issues.
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The outlook on Bankia's subsidiary BFA is also positive as we expect the
ratings on the holding company and the operating entity to move in tandem.
Caja Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Credito
The positive outlook reflects the possibility that we could raise our
long-term rating on Caja Laboral in the next 12-24 months if Spain's economic
and operating environment become more supportive, ultimately resulting in a
strengthening of banks' creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for
Spanish banks. An upgrade would also depend on Caja Laboral preserving its
risk profile strength compared to peers.
The positive outlook also assumes that Caja Laboral will continue to benefit
from sound capitalization (with its RAC ratio standing at 9.0%-9.5% over
2017-2018), maintain a prudent approach to the business, not engage in
aggressive acquisitions, and remain primarily retail-funded. We also expect
the bank's asset quality to continue comparing well with industry averages,
and problem assets to decline to around 9.4% of gross loans by the end of
2018.
We could revise the outlook to stable if we don't see prospects of the
economic or operating environment in Spain becoming more supportive for banks.
We could also revise the outlook to stable if we were to believe that Caja
Laboral's capital compared to the risks it bears is no longer a rating
strength, particularly given its comparatively high geographic and business
concentration, including its exposure to the Mondragon group.
Banco de Sabadell S.A.
The positive outlook indicates the possibility that we could raise our longand short-term ratings over the next 12 months if the bank delivers on its
strategic objectives. Specifically, we could raise the ratings if the bank
further strengthens its solvency, with its RAC ratio exceeding 7%, and
substantially reduces its still-high stock of nonperforming assets, while
successfully completing the integration of its U.K. subsidiary.
The positive outlook also reflects the possibility of Spain's economic and
operating environment becoming more supportive, ultimately resulting in a
strengthening of banks' creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for
Spanish banks.
We could revise the outlook back to stable if we anticipate that the bank will
not be able to reach a more adequate capital position over the outlook
horizon, most likely due to weak profits hindering organic capital generation,
and we no longer see prospects of easing risks in the economic or operating
environment for banks in Spain.
Ibercaja Banco S.A.
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The positive outlook reflects the possibility that we could raise our
long-term rating on Ibercaja in the next 12 months if Spain's economic and
operating environment becomes more supportive, ultimately resulting in a
higher anchor for banks operating primarily in Spain. An upgrade would also
depend on Ibercaja preserving its franchise and proving it can be sustainably
profitable in the context of the likely more consolidated and competitive
environment ahead. A higher rating would also depend on Ibercaja maintaining a
lower-risk profile than its peers.
We expect that Ibercaja's capitalization will remain weak compared to peers
and to the risks it bears. In particular, we forecast that its RAC ratio will
stand at 4.25%-4.75% by end-2017, and that its financial flexibility will
remain constrained given its unlisted status and its major shareholder's
limited sources of wealth. We expect Ibercaja's problem assets to decline to
11.4% of loans by the end of 2017.
We could revise the outlook to stable if, contrary to our current
expectations, we don't see prospects of the economic or operating environment
in Spain becoming more supportive for banks. We could also revise the outlook
to stable if the relative value of Ibercaja's regional banking franchise
weakens, the bank's returns lag those of peers, the bank engages in
acquisitions that impair its financial profile, or its risk appetite
increases.
Abanca Corporación Bancaria S.A.
The positive outlook reflects the possibility that we could raise our
long-term rating on Abanca in the next 12 months if Spain's economic and
operating environment becomes more supportive, ultimately resulting in a
strengthening of banks' creditworthiness and therefore a higher anchor for
banks operating primarily in Spain. An upgrade would also depend on Abanca
making progress in making its banking business sustainably profitable.
We expect that Abanca will continue to reduce its portfolio of problematic
assets, with NPAs reducing to slightly less than 10% of gross loans by
end-2017, while keeping its coverage ratios high. We also expect its quality
of capital to remain constrained by its stock of time-difference deferred tax
assets, which is larger than that of its peers at close to 100% of its total
adjusted capital over our outlook horizon.
We could revise the outlook to stable if, contrary to our current
expectations, we don't see prospects of the economic or operating environment
in Spain becoming more supportive for banks. We could also revise the outlook
to stable if Abanca proves unable to further deliver on its strategic plan and
reverse its current net operating losses, or if we anticipate that the bank
would face difficulties in financing new lending with stable funding sources.
Banco Popular Español S.A.
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The stable outlook on Popular balances the positive prospects that we see for
the Spanish economic and operating environment against our view that the bank
still faces significant challenges in turning around its weak financial
profile. We believe that, in the absence of appropriate and effective
measures, there will be an increasing divergence between the improvements we
expect for the Spanish banking system as a whole and Popular.
We could lower our ratings on the bank if the new management team fails to
reach a credible plan to address Popular's financial weaknesses, mainly the
workout of its high stock of problematic assets and turning around
profitability. We could also lower the ratings if Popular posts additional
losses that cause our RAC ratio to decline below 5%.
For us to raise the ratings on Popular, Spain's economic and operating
environment would have to become more supportive, ultimately resulting in an
improvement of the anchor for banks operating primarily in Spain, and Popular
would have to prove it is able to tackle its key strategic challenges.
RELATED CRITERIA
• General Criteria: Guarantee Criteria, Oct. 21, 2016
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Bank Rating Methodology And
Assumptions: Additional Loss-Absorbing Capacity, April 27, 2015
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Bank Hybrid Capital And
Nondeferrable Subordinated Debt Methodology And Assumptions, Jan. 29,
2015
• General Criteria: Principles For Rating Debt Issues Based On Imputed
Promises, Dec. 19, 2014
• General Criteria: Ratings Above The Sovereign--Corporate And Government
Ratings: Methodology And Assumptions, Nov. 19, 2013
• General Criteria: Group Rating Methodology, Nov. 19, 2013
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Assessing Bank Branch
Creditworthiness, Oct. 14, 2013
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Quantitative Metrics For
Rating Banks Globally: Methodology And Assumptions, July 17, 2013
• General Criteria: Criteria For Assigning 'CCC+', 'CCC', 'CCC-', And 'CC'
Ratings, Oct. 01, 2012
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Revised Market Risk Charges
For Banks In Our Risk-Adjusted Capital Framework, June 22, 2012
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Banking Industry Country Risk
Assessment Methodology And Assumptions, Nov. 09, 2011
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Banks: Rating Methodology And
Assumptions, Nov. 09, 2011
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Bank Capital Methodology And
Assumptions, Dec. 06, 2010
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Methodology For Mapping ShortAnd Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings For Banks, May 04, 2010
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• General Criteria: Use Of CreditWatch And Outlooks, Sept. 14, 2009
• Criteria - Financial Institutions - Banks: Commercial Paper I: Banks,
March 23, 2004
BICRA SCORE SNAPSHOT
Spain
To
From
BICRA Group
5
5
Economic risk
Economic resilience
Economic imbalances
Credit risk in the economy
5
Intermediate risk
Intermediate risk
High risk
6
Intermediate risk
High risk
High risk
Industry risk
Institutional framework
Competitive dynamics
Systemwide funding
5
Intermediate risk
Intermediate risk
High risk
5
Intermediate risk
Intermediate risk
High risk
Trends
Economic risk trend
Industry risk trend
Positive
Positive
Positive
Stable
*Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) economic risk and industry
risk scores are on a scale from 1 (lowest risk) to 10 (highest risk). For more
details on our BICRA scores on banking industries across the globe, please see
"Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment Update," published monthly on
RatingsDirect.
RATINGS LIST
* * * * * * * * * * * Abanca Corporacion Bancaria S.A * * * * * * * * * *
Upgraded; Ratings Affirmed
Abanca Corporacion Bancaria S.A
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
BB-/Positive/B
B+/Positive/B
* * * * * * * * * * Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.
BBVA Global Markets B.V.
Counterparty Credit Rating
BBB+/Stable/A-2
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.
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Certificate Of Deposit
Senior Unsecured
Subordinated
Certificate Of Deposit
Commercial Paper
A-2
BBB+
BBBA-2
A-2
B.B.V. Finance (DE) Inc.
Commercial Paper (1)
A-2
BBVA Capital Finance, S.A. Unipersonal
Preferred Stock (1)
BB-
BBVA Commercial Paper Ltd.
Commercial Paper (1)
A-2
BBVA Global Finance Ltd.
Senior Unsecured (1)
Subordinated (1)
BBB+
BBB-
BBVA Global Markets B.V.
Senior Unsecured (1)
Senior Unsecured (1)
BBB+
BBB+p
BBVA International Ltd.
BBVA International Preferred, S.A. Unipersonal
Preference Stock (1)
BBBBVA Senior Finance, S.A. Unipersonal
Senior Unsecured (1)
Senior Unsecured (1)
BBB+
BBB+p
BBVA Subordinated Capital, S.A. Unipersonal
Subordinated (1)
BBBBBVA U.S. Senior, S.A. Unipersonal
Bex America Finance Inc.
Commercial Paper (1)
Commercial Paper (1)(2)
A-2
A-2
(1) Guaranteed by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.
(2) Guaranteed and co-issued by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Banco de Sabadell S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed
Banco de Sabadell S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
Senior Unsecured
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BB+/Positive/B
BB+
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Subordinated
Preferred Stock
Commercial Paper
* * * * * * * * * * * *
B+
CCC+
B
Banco Popular Espanol S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
Banco Popular Espanol S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
B+/Stable/B
B+/Positive/B
Ratings Affirmed
Banco Popular Espanol S.A.
Subordinated
CCC+
BPE Financiaciones S.A.
Senior Unsecured (1)
Subordinated (1)
B+
CCC+
Popular Capital S.A.
Preferred Stock (1)
CCC
Popular Preference (Cayman) Ltd.
Preference Stock (1)
CCC
(1) Guaranteed by Banco Popular Espanol S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Banco Santander S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
Banco Santander S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
A-/Positive/A-2
A-/Stable/A-2
Ratings Affirmed
Banco Santander S.A.
Certificate Of Deposit
Senior Unsecured
Subordinated
Preferred Stock
Preference Stock
Commercial Paper
A-/A-2
ABBB+
BB
BB
A-2
BCH North American Capital Corp.
Commercial Paper (1)
A-2
EMISORA SANTANDER ESPANA, S.A.U.
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Mostly Positive Rating Actions On Spanish Banks On Largely Completed Provisioning Of Legacy Problem Assets
Senior Unsecured (1)
A-
Santander Central Hispano Finance (Delaware) Inc.
Santander Central Hispano International Ltd.
Santander Commercial Paper, S.A. Unipersonal
Commercial Paper (1)
A-2
Santander Finance Capital S.A. Unipersonal
Preferred Stock (1)
BB
Preferred Stock (1)
BB+
Santander Finance Preferred S.A. Unipersonal
Preferred Stock (1)
BB
Preference Stock (1)
BB
Santander International Debt, S.A. Unipersonal
Senior Unsecured (1)
ASantander International Preferred S.A. Unipersonal
Preferred Stock (1)
BB+
Santander Issuances S.A. Unipersonal
Subordinated (1)
BBB
Santander Perpetual, S.A. Unipersonal
Junior Subordinated (1)
BB+
(1) Guaranteed by Banco Santander S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bankinter S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Upgraded
Bankinter S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
Senior Unsecured
Subordinated
To
From
BBB/Positive/A-2
BBB
BB+
BBB-/Positive/A-3
BBBBB
Bankinter Sociedad de Financiacion, S.A
Commercial Paper (1)
A-2
A-3
(1) Guaranteed by Bankinter S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * BFA Tenedora de Acciones, S.A.U. * * * * * * * * * *
Upgraded; Ratings Affirmed
Bankia S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
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To
From
BBB-/Positive/A-3
BB+/Positive/B
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Mostly Positive Rating Actions On Spanish Banks On Largely Completed Provisioning Of Legacy Problem Assets
Senior Unsecured
Subordinated
Commercial Paper
BBBBB
A-3
BB+
B+
B
BFA Tenedora de Acciones, S.A.U.
Counterparty Credit Rating
Senior Unsecured
BB+/Positive/B
BB+
BB-/Positive/B
BB-
Caymadrid International Ltd.
Senior Unsecured (1)
BBB-
BB+
(1) Guaranteed by Bankia S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Caixabank S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
CaixaBank S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
BBB/Positive/A-2
BBB/Stable/A-2
Ratings Affirmed
CaixaBank S.A.
Senior Unsecured
Subordinated
BBB
BB+
* * * * * * * * Caja Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Credito * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
To
Caja Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Credito
Counterparty Credit Rating
BBB-/Positive/A-3
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From
BBB-/Stable/A-3
Cecabank S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
Cecabank S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
BBB/Positive/A-2
BBB/Stable/A-2
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ibercaja Banco. S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Upgraded; Ratings Affirmed
To
From
Ibercaja Banco S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
BB+/Positive/B
BB/Positive/B
Subordinated
B+
B
Preferred Stock
CCC+
CCC
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kuxtabank S.A. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Mostly Positive Rating Actions On Spanish Banks On Largely Completed Provisioning Of Legacy Problem Assets
Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action
Kutxabank S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
To
From
BBB-/Positive/A-3
BBB-/Stable/A-3
Ratings Affirmed
Kutxabank S.A.
Senior Unsecured
* * * * * * * * * * *
BBBSantander Consumer Finance S.A. * * * * * * * * * * *
Ratings Affirmed
Santander Consumer Finance S.A.
Counterparty Credit Rating
Senior Unsecured
Commercial Paper
BBB+/Stable/A-2
BBB+
A-2
Santander Consumer Bank AS
Senior Unsecured (1)
BBB+
(1) Guaranteed by Santander Consumer Finance S.A.
Additional Contact:
Financial Institutions Ratings Europe; [email protected]
Certain terms used in this report, particularly certain adjectives used to
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criteria. Please see Ratings Criteria at www.standardandpoors.com for further
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