OREANDA-NEWS. National Rating Agency (NRA) has affirmed its ‘AA’ credit rating on SMP Bank JSC. The outlook for the rating is Stable. The bank was assigned NRA’s first-time credit rating of ‘AA-’ on Apr. 27, 2011. The latest rating action on SMP Bank (the ‘AA’ credit rating affirmation with a stable outlook) was on July 23, 2015.

Registered by the Central Bank of Russia in 2001, SMP Bank (name derived from the Russian acronym for the Northern Sea Route, «СМП») operates under full banking license #3368, offering a wide range of products and services. Its principal owners are Russian businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg (with stakes of around 29 and 54% respectively) and Stroygazmontazh LLC (around 9%). In July 2015, SMP Bank’s board approved the bank’s reorganization in the form of acquisition of another bank asset belonging to Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, InvestCapitalBank JSC (acquired as a branch in October 2015). This acquisition, together with that of other subsidiary banks, such as Mosoblbank PJSC and Inresbank LLC, allowed SMP Bank to expand its geographic presence and increase its customer base. SMP Bank (Reg. No. 3368) is a head bank of a financial group with a strategy aimed at further developing a universal banking model and becoming a federal-level financial institution, ranking among Russia’s top banks by assets, having a growing retail banking business and strengthening its position in the SME banking market through the use of its extensive branch network.