Fitch Downgrades Five Romanian Banks, Affirms Rating on Another One

"The LT IDRs and Support ratings of the five downgraded Romanian banks are driven by institutional support from their respective foreign parents and are constrained by Romania's 'BBB' Country Ceiling", Fitch said in a press release. "The Country Ceiling limits the extent to which potential support from the banks' foreign parents can be factored into their IDRs and Support ratings."

Fitch said on Monday it has downgraded Romania's Long-term (LT) foreign currency (FC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'BB+' from 'BBB', LT local currency (LC) IDR to 'BBB-' (BBB minus) from 'BBB+', and to Short-term (ST) FC IDR 'B' from 'F3'. Its country ceiling is downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus). The outlook remained negative.

Following are the details about the actions taken by the rating agency, as presented in its release: 

Banca Comerciala Romana S.A.:
LT FC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus); Outlook remains Negative
LT LC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus); Outlook remains Negative
ST FC IDR: downgraded to 'F3' from 'F2'
Individual rating: affirmed at 'C/D'
Support rating: downgraded to '2' from '1'

BRD - Groupe Societe Generale S.A.:
LT FC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus); Outlook remains Negative
ST FC IDR: downgraded to 'F3' from 'F2'
Support rating: downgraded to '2' from '1'

Bancpost S.A.:
LT FC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus); Outlook remains Negative
ST FC IDR: downgraded to 'F3' from 'F2'
Individual rating: affirmed at 'D'
Support rating: downgraded to '2' from '1'

UniCredit Tiriac Bank S.A.:
LT FC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'A-' (A minus); Outlook remains Negative
ST FC IDR: downgraded to 'F3' from 'F2'
Support rating: downgraded to '2' from '1'
Individual rating: affirmed at 'D'

Banca Romaneasca S.A.:
LT FC IDR: downgraded to 'BBB' from 'BBB+'; Outlook changed to Negative from Stable
ST FC IDR: downgraded to 'F3' from 'F2'
Support rating: affirmed at '2'
Individual rating: affirmed at 'D'

The rating action on domestically owned private Romanian bank, Banca Transilvania S.A., whose LT IDR is driven by its intrinsic strength and hence not constrained by Romania's 'BBB' Country Ceiling, is affirmed. The Outlook is changed to Stable from Positive since an improvement in operating environment is no longer expected as reflected in the Negative Outlook on the sovereign's LT IDRs.

Banca Transilvania S.A.:
LT FC IDR: affirmed as 'BB-' (BB minus); Outlook changed to Stable from Positive
ST FC IDR: affirmed at 'B'
Support rating: affirmed at '3'
Support Rating Floor: affirmed at 'BB-' (BB minus)
Individual rating: affirmed at 'D'