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Summary

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 Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC or the Bank) at ‘A’ and ‘A1’, respectively. At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed ICBC’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) of ‘bbb-’, Core Financial Strength (CFS) of ‘bbb’ and Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) of Very High. The Outlook for the LT FCR and BSR is Stable.

The four-notch uplift of the LT FCR above the BSR is based on an ESL of Very High. The ESL takes into account ICBC’s majority state ownership and global systemically important bank (G-SIB) status. Furthermore, the Chinese government has a strong track record of extending assistance to troubled banks in case of need, and has ample resources and policy flexibility to support the banking sector as a whole, notwithstanding a decline in its fiscal position due to the…