Moody's on Aug. 8 lowered the baseline credit assessment of U.K.-based ICBC Standard Bank PLC to "b1" from "ba3", while affirming its long- and short-term bank deposit ratings at Baa3/Prime-3, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating.
The agency also affirmed the bank's long-term issuer rating at Baa3, with a stable outlook, as well as its adjusted baseline credit assessment at "baa2", long- and short-term counterparty risk assessment at Baa2(cr)/Prime-2(cr) and long- and short-term risk ratings at Baa3/Prime-2.
Moody's said the downgrade of the baseline credit assessment comes after the bank posted an unexpected provision of $110 million, driven by an explosion at a refinery of its Philadelphia Energy Solutions R&M LLC counterparty. The provision led to a first-half loss of $130 million at the bank.
ICBC Standard Bank is a unit of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world's biggest bank by assets.
