Moody's on May 21 affirmed NIBC Bank NV's Baa1 long-term senior unsecured debt and deposit ratings, and changed the outlook on these ratings to positive from stable.

The agency also affirmed the Netherlands-based bank's "baa3" stand-alone baseline credit assessment and adjusted baseline credit assessment, Prime-2 short-term ratings, A3/Prime-2 long- and short-term counterparty risk ratings and A3(cr)/P-2(cr) long- and short-term counterparty risk assessments.

The positive outlook reflects the agency's view that the long-term senior unsecured debt and deposit ratings could be upgraded if the bank is able to sustain its current level of profitability and capitalization over the coming 18 months, while preserving sound asset performance and robust liquidity.