S&P Global MarketIntelligence presents a weekly overview of various ratings actions on Europeanfinancial institutions and economies. Ratings actions are listed byannouncement date in reverse chronological order.
April 29
*DBRS revised tostable from negative the trend on France's long-term foreign- andlocal-currency issuer ratings, which were confirmed at AAA. The agency alsoconfirmed the country's R-1(high) short-term foreign- and local-currency issuerratings, which carry a stable trend.
*Fitch Ratings downgraded several ratings on Kazakhstan, includinglowering to BBB from BBB+ the sovereign's long-term foreign-currency issuerdefault rating and to BBB from A- the local-currency issuer default rating.
*Moody's assigned anegative outlook on Azerbaijan's long-term issuer ratings and senior unsecureddebt ratings. The ratings were confirmed at Ba1.
* Standard& Poor's Ratings Services affirmedthe unsolicited long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on the U.K. atAAA/A-1+, with the long-term rating carrying a negative outlook. The AAA/A-1+long- and short-term issuer credit ratings on the were also affirmed.The BoE's long-term rating carries a negative outlook.
*Moody's assignedAa2/Prime-1 long- and short-term deposit ratings and Aa3/Prime-1 long- andshort-term issuer ratings to Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG. The agency alsoassigned the lender long- and short-term counterparty risk assessments ofAa1(cr)/Prime-1(cr) and baseline and adjusted baseline credit assessments of"a2." The outlooks on all the long-term ratings are stable.
*Moody's assigned A2insurance financial strength ratings on Tryg A/S units Tryg Forsikring A/S and . Theoutlook is positive. The company terminated the ratings agreement with Standard& Poor's Ratings Services, it said.
April 28
*Moody's took ratingsactions on SparebankenHedmark, including assigning the bank a long-term issuer rating ofA2, with a stable outlook.
*Moody's raisedseveral ratings on Dexia CréditLocal SA unit DexiaCrediop SpA, including upgrading to Baa3 from Ba3 the long-termdeposit and senior unsecured ratings. The "b2" adjusted baselinecredit assessment was affirmed.
*Moody's raised to Ba1from Ba2 the long-term deposit and senior debt ratings on , with a stable outlook.The rating agency upgraded the lender's baseline and adjusted baseline creditassessments to "ba1" from "ba2" and the long- andshort-term counterparty risk assessments to Baa2(cr)/Prime-2(cr) fromBaa3(cr)/Prime-3(cr).
* Moody's affirmed the B2 long-term foreign- and local-currencycorporate family and issuer ratings on EkspoFaktoring AS. The outlook on the ratings was changed to stable fromnegative. The Ba1.tr national scale long-term issuer rating was affirmed.
* Moody's confirmed DenizBank AS local- and foreign-currency long-termdeposit ratings at Ba2, with a negative outlook, the adjusted baseline creditassessment at "ba2" and counterparty risk assessment at Ba1(cr). Theratings actions follow the confirmation of ratings on parent .
* Fitch affirmedNV Bank NederlandseGemeenten's long- and short-term issuer default ratings at AA+/F1+,with a stable outlook for the long-term ratings. The 1 support rating, and AA+support rating floor and long-term senior unsecured debt ratings were alsoaffirmed.
*Following the downgrade of ratings on Kazakhstan, Moody's various ratings on , JSC HalykSavings Bank of Kazakhstan and PAO Sberbank of Russia unit .
*Fitch affirmed and subsequently withdrew various ratings on , includingthe long- and short-term issuer default ratings of D, or Default, and the"f" viability rating, following the approval of the lender'sresolution by the Andorra Bank Resolution Authority.
*Moody's assigned aBaa3 long-term global scale local-currency senior unsecured debt rating toING BANK (EURASIA)JSC, with a negative outlook. The company has a baseline creditassessment of "ba3".
* DBRSconfirmed 's senior long-andshort-term debt and deposits rating at A(low)/R-1(low).
April 26
*Moody's took ratingsactions on numerous Russian lenders, including lowering by several notches theadjusted baseline credit assessments of Bank VTB 24, JSCRussian Bank for Small & Medium Enterprises Support or SMEBank, and Eximbank ofRussia. The agency confirmed the long-term ratings of the threelenders and of others, including PAO VTB Bank, Vnesheconombank and JSC The Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending.
*Moody's to Baa1 from Baa2 thelong-term issuer ratings on Investec Plc, while changing the outlook to stable fromratings under review. The U.K. lender's short-term issuer rating was affirmedat Prime-2.
*S&P changed theoutlook on PJSCKredobank to positive from negative, while upgrading the company'sUkraine national scale rating to uaBB- from uaB+. The CCC+/C long- andshort-term counterparty credit ratings were affirmed.
*Moody's took ratingsactions on PJSC Asian-PacificBank, including lowering to B3 from B2 the lender's long-termlocal- and foreign-currency deposit ratings, with a negative outlook, and to"b3" from "b2" the baseline and adjusted baseline creditassessments. The long-term counterparty risk assessment was downgraded toB2(cr) from B1(cr).
*Fitch put on ratingwatch several ratings on BancoBPI SA, including placing the BB long-term issuer default rating onthe bank and unit Banco Portuguêsde Investimento SA on Rating Watch Evolving.
*Fitch affirmedthe long-term issuer default rating on MAPFRE SA at BBB+, while affirming the A- insurerfinancial strength ratings on units MAPFRE España Compañia De Seguros Y Reaseguros SA,MAPFRE Vida SA De Seguros YReaseguros Sobre La Vida Humana, Mapfre Global Risks SA, and MapfreRe Compania de Reaseguros SA. The ratings carry stable outlooks.
* Following CaixaBank SA's announcement of a voluntary for Banco BPI,Fitch affirmedthe Spanish bank's long- and short-term issuer default rating at BBB/F2. Thelong-term rating carries a positive outlook, reflecting a potential ratingupgrade subject to further improvements in the bank's asset quality, riskprofile and capital, and the completion of the BPI deal. The agency alsoaffirmed the "bbb" viability rating, 5 support rating, No Floorsupport rating floor, BBB/F2 long-and short-term senior unsecured debt ratings.
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