Fitch Ratings on May 18 upgraded the long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings of Kazakhstan-based JSC Altyn Bank to BBB- from BB, with a stable outlook, and removed the ratings from Rating Watch Positive.
The rating agency also upgraded the bank's short-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to F3 from B, its national long-term rating to AA+(kaz) from A+(kaz) and its support rating to 2 from 3. All ratings were removed from Rating Watch Positive, and the outlook on the national long-term rating is stable.
The actions come after China CITIC Bank Corp. Ltd. and China Shuangwei Investment Co. Ltd. acquired a 60% stake in the bank, Fitch said. The agency added that it sees a high probability of support for Altyn Bank
Fitch said it did not assign the bank a viability rating since its business model is still evolving and is likely to be transformed following the ownership change.
