First Commercial Bank – 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 First Commercial Bank (FCB or the Bank) at ‘A-’ and ‘A2’, respectively. At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed FCB’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) of ‘bbb’, Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating of ‘bbb-’ and Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) of High. The Outlook for the LT FCR and BSR remains Stable.

The Bank’s LT FCR is set two notches above the BSR to reflect the high likelihood of extraordinary support from the government. The ESL of High is underpinned by FCB’s systemic importance and the government’s shareholding (albeit small) in the Bank’s parent holding company, First Financial Holding Company. FCB is also one of the six domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) in Taiwan. Furthermore, it is our view that the Taiwanese government has the means, given its…