OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Bank of China (ELUOSI), China Construction Bank (Russia) Limited, Credit Agricole CIB AO, Danske Bank (Russia), HSBC Bank (RR) LLC, ING Bank (Eurasia) JSC, JSC Nordea Bank and SEB Bank JSC at 'BBB-' with Negative Outlooks. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this commentary.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The banks' IDRs, Support Ratings and senior debt ratings (where assigned) continue to reflect Fitch's view that their financially strong parents will likely have a high propensity to support the subsidiaries in case of need. The banks are fully owned by Bank of China Ltd. (A/Stable), China Construction Bank Corporation (A/Stable), Credit Agricole (A/Positive), Danske Bank AS (A/Stable), HSBC Bank Plc (AA-/Stable), ING Bank N.V. (A/Stable), Nordea Bank AB (AA-/Stable) and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (A+/Positive), respectively.

Fitch's view on support is based on the parent banks' full ownership of their subsidiaries, the high level of integration between parents and subsidiaries, their common branding, implying reputational risks in case of subsidiary defaults and the limited size of the subsidiary banks (in each case less than 1% of group assets), meaning the small cost of any potential support required.

At present, Credit Agricole, Danske, HSBC, ING, Nordea and SEB have a limited focus on the Russian market and will likely moderate their Russian exposures due to the current sanctions regime and the weak economic performance of the country. The Russian market may be of somewhat greater strategic importance for Bank of China and China Construction Bank, but their subsidiary banks are also currently very small.

The banks' foreign currency IDRs are capped by Russia's Country Ceiling (BBB-), and the local currency IDRs, where assigned, also take into account Russian country risks. The Country Ceiling captures transfer and convertibility risks and reflects the risk that the subsidiary banks may not be able to utilise parent support to service their foreign currency obligations. Were it not for the Country Ceiling and other country risks, Fitch would likely rate the subsidiary banks one notch lower than their respective parents.

Fitch has not assigned Viability Ratings to the subsidiary banks because of the high level of management and operational integration with parent institutions. This integration includes, to varying degrees at different banks, parent guarantees provided for subsidiary credit exposures, active participation of the parent banks in the subsidiaries' credit approval processes, significant funding provided by parents to subsidiaries and other operations conducted with the parent institutions, dependence of subsidiary business origination on the broader group, and significant fungibility between parent and subsidiary balance sheets.

The affirmation of the banks' National Ratings at 'AAA(rus)' reflects Fitch's view that the banks remain among the strongest credits in Russia. The Stable Outlooks on the National Ratings reflects Fitch's view that the creditworthiness of the banks relative to other Russian issuers would be unlikely to change significantly in case of a sovereign downgrade.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
The Negative Outlook on the banks' IDRs reflects that on the sovereign. The banks' IDRs, Support Ratings and senior debt ratings could be downgraded if Russia's sovereign ratings were downgraded and the Country Ceiling revised down. Conversely, a revision of the sovereign Outlook to Stable would lead to the Outlooks on the banks being revised to Stable.

The subsidiary ratings could also be downgraded in case of (i) a considerable weakening, in Fitch's view, of the propensity of a parent bank to support its subsidiary; (ii) the sale of a subsidiary bank to a more lowly-rated owner; or (iii) a downgrade of a parent bank rating to 'BBB-' or below. However, each of these scenarios is currently viewed as unlikely by Fitch.

The rating actions are as follows:

Bank of China (ELUOSI) and China Construction Bank (Russia) Limited, HSBC Bank (RR) LLC:
Long-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Negative
Short-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'F3'
Long-term local currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-', Outlook Negative
National Long-term rating: affirmed at 'AAA'(rus); Outlook Stable
Support Rating: affirmed at '2'

Credit Agricole CIB AO:
Long-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Negative
Short-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'F3'
Long-term local currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-', Outlook Negative
Short-term local currency IDR: affirmed at 'F3'
National Long-term rating: affirmed at 'AAA'(rus); Outlook Stable
Support Rating: affirmed at '2'

Danske Bank (Russia), JSC Nordea Bank and SEB Bank JSC:
Long-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Negative
Short-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'F3'
National Long-term rating: affirmed at 'AAA'(rus); Outlook Stable
Support Rating: affirmed at '2'

ING Bank (Eurasia) JSC:
Long-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Negative
Short-term foreign currency IDR: affirmed at 'F3'
Long-term local currency IDR: affirmed at 'BBB-', Outlook Negative
National Long-term rating: affirmed at 'AAA'(rus); Outlook Stable
Support Rating: affirmed at '2'
Senior unsecured debt: affirmed at 'BBB-'/'AAA'(rus)