Bank of China’s Ratings Affirmed with a Stable Outlook

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has affirmed the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) of Bank of China (BOC or the Bank) at ‘A’ and ‘A1’, respectively. At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed BOC’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) of ‘bbb-’, Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating of ‘bbb-’ and Extraordinary Support Level of Very High. The Outlook for the LT FCR and BSR remains Stable.

Benefiting from the Very High ESL, BOC’s LT FCR is set four notches above the BSR, a level aligned with CI’s internal assessment of sovereign credit risk for China. The ESL reflects the Bank’s majority state ownership and global systemically important bank (G-SIB) status. The Chinese government has a strong track record of extending assistance to troubled banks in case of need, as well as ample resources and policy flexibility to support the banking sector as a whole, notwithstanding a…