Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Viability Ratings of South Africa’s major banks by one notch following the recent downgrade of the South African sovereign rating.
The banks affected are Absa Bank Limited‚ FirstRand Bank Limited‚ Investec Bank Limited‚ Nedbank Limited and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (SBSA) and their respective rated holding companies.
The Long-term IDRs of FirstRand‚ Nedbank and SBSA have been downgraded to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' and Investec's IDR has been downgraded to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'.
Fitch said the downgrade of the sovereign had also resulted in a re-calibration of the South African National Rating Scale‚ which has affected several other institutions in the country. - I-Net Bridge