OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned expected Long-Term Ratings of 'A(EXP)' to the proposed long-term senior unsecured notes issued by Bank of China Ltd. (BOC) Luxembourg Branch and New York Branch under BOC's medium-term note (MTN) programme. The notes will be denominated in euro, US dollars, and Chinese yuan with fixed and floating rates.

The notes issued by Luxembourg Branch will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange while the notes issued by New York Branch will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The proceeds will be used solely to fund BOC's new and existing projects and support businesses with environmental benefits that are aligned with the Green Bond Principles issued by the International Capital Market Association. The issue amount and maturity structure will be finalised upon settlement. The final rating is contingent upon the receipt of final documents conforming to the information already received.

The notes will be issued under BOC's USD20bn MTN programme. The MTN programme was first rated 'A'/'F1' by Fitch on 9 December 2013, and subsequently affirmed on 2 June 2016. The size of the programme was increased to USD20bn from USD10bn on 18 June 2015 to support BOC's asset expansion.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Fitch sees BOC Luxembourg Branch and New York Branch as part of the same legal entity, BOC. Therefore, the notes to be issued under the MTN programme represent direct, unconditional, unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of BOC, and are rated in line with BOC's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A'/Stable. The bank's IDR is underpinned by the agency's expectations of an extremely high probability of support from the Chinese government in the event of stress.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Any change to the rating on the notes will be correlated directly with changes in BOC's IDR, which will in turn reflect any shift in the perceived willingness or ability of government to support BOC in a full and timely manner.