Moody's on March 15 affirmed the B1 foreign-currency senior unsecured debt and long-term local-currency bank deposit ratings of Armenia-based Industrial Construction Bank CJSC or Ardshinbank, and changed the outlooks to positive from stable, following a similar action on the Armenian sovereign.
The rating agency also affirmed the bank's B2 long-term foreign-currency bank deposit rating, Not Prime short-term bank deposit rating, "b1" baseline and adjusted baseline credit assessments, and Ba3(cr)/Not Prime(cr) long- and short-term counterparty risk assessments.
The outlook on the long-term foreign-currency bank deposit rating remains stable as it remains limited by the foreign-currency deposit ceiling, Moody's said.
Because Ardshinbank's long-term ratings are either at the sovereign level or constrained by the deposit ceiling, any positive ratings action would be driven by a positive sovereign rating move. Ardshinbank's outlook could be revised back to stable if the same action were taken on the sovereign or if the government's ability or willingness to support the bank were to be reduced.
