S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a summary of ratings actions on Asia-Pacific financial institutions and economies. Ratings actions are listed by announcement date in reverse chronological order.
March 9
* S&P Global Ratings assigned Great Eastern Life Assurance Co. Ltd.ng- and short-term deposit ratings to A2 and Prime-1, respectively, from A3 and Prime-2. The ratings outlook is stable.
* A.M. Best removed from under review with negative imp lications and affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a-" of TOWER Insurance Ltd. Concurrently, the rating agency removed from under review with negative implications and affirmed the long-term issuer credit rating of "bbb-" of the insurer's ultimate parent, TOWER Ltd. The outlook assigned to the ratings is stable.
March 7
* Moody's affirmed the long-term foreign currency issuer rating of Export-Import Bank of Thailand at Baa1 and upgraded the bank's baseline credit assessment to ba2 from ba3.
* S&P downgraded its long-term issuer credit rating on Japan-based Ricoh Leasing Co. Ltd. to BBB+ from A-, while raising its outlook on the company to stable from negative.
March 6
* Fitch Ratings affirmed New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.'s insurer financial strength rating at A (Strong), with a stable outlook.
* Fitch affirmed the national insurer financial strength rating on AIA Co. Ltd.'s Thailand branch at AAA(tha), with a stable outlook.
March 5
* Moody's assigned first-time ratings to Bangladesh-based BRAC Bank Ltd., with a stable outlook. The rating agency said it assigned the bank local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings and local-currency deposit ratings of Ba3/Not Prime and foreign-currency deposit ratings of B1/Not Prime.
* S&P affirmed the insurer financial strength and long-term issuer credit ratings on Japan-based MassMutual Life Insurance Co. Ltd. at A-, following Nippon Life Insurance Co.'s agreement to acquire an 85.1% stake in the insurer. The outlook remains stable.
* Moody's assigned Everbright Sun Hung Kai Co. Ltd. first-time long- and short-term issuer ratings of Baa3 and Prime-3, respectively. The outlook on the long-term rating is stable.
