OREANDA-NEWS. The eight strongest Asia-Pacific (APAC) banks - each with the fourth-highest 'aa-' Viability Rating (VR), Fitch Ratings' measure of intrinsic strength - are expected to maintain sound credit profiles, despite the current credit-cycle downturn, the agency says in its latest APAC 'aa-' rated bank report card.

Each bank faces similar risks, which include a China slowdown, rising interest rates, climbing household debt and a property market downturn.

The eight banks with the highest VR out of 125 VR-rated APAC banks are The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HKSB), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac), DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank Limited.