OREANDA-NEWS. On 06 August 2009 was announced, that FitchRatings, a global credit rating agency, had improved TBC Bank’s rating and assigned “B+” category to it. The rating agency has assessed six leading Georgian banks and TBC Bank is the only one, whose rating has been improved.

Growth of TBC Bank’s rating is an unprecedented and especially positive event since the difficult economic and political processes in Georgia during 2008-2009 had a negative effect on the country’s economy, including on the banking sector.

Experts of FitchRatings claim that growth of TBC Bank’s rating along with the stable and dynamic development of the bank has been conditioned by a large scale investment in TBC Bank in the first half of 2009 as well as by the changes that took place in the structure of shareholders. 

As a result of conducted transaction, a list of TBC Bank’s shareholders was enhanced by large financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), U.S. JP Morgan and British Ashmore Investment Management Limited. Among the shareholders there still are International Financial Corporation (IFC) and German Investments and Development Company (DEG).

In frames of the mentioned international financial assistance, TBC Bank’s capital has increased by USD 40 million. Moreover, the bank received a subordinated loan at USD 44 million as well as a priority loan at USD 54 million. 

These transactions enabled the bank to strengthen its capital, increase liquidity parameters and reduce refinancing risks. The improvement of the mentioned financial parameters has further been reflected in the assessment of the international rating agency – Fitch has improved previous “B” rating up to “B+” rating.