OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned Bank of China Ltd. (BOC) Hong Kong Branch's proposed long-term senior unsecured US dollar notes issued under its medium-term note (MTN) programme an expected Long-Term Rating of 'A(EXP)'.

The issue will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the proceeds will be used primarily to support BOC's overseas asset growth. 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 10 July 2015. 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 Hong Kong 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 ratings of 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.