Related Market Sector:
Fitch Ratings-Taipei/Hongkong/Singapore-29 June 2009: Fitch Ratings has today assigned BankTaiwan Securities (BTS) 'AA+(twn)' National Long-term rating, 'F1+(twn)' National Short-term rating, 'D' Individual rating and '1' Support rating. The Outlook on the National Long-term rating is Stable.
BTS's 'AA+(twn)' National Long-term rating is predicated on the extremely high probability of ultimate parental support in the form of liquidity and capital assistance by the government, which owns 100% of BTS through Taiwan Financial Holdings (TFH). Its Individual rating considers its relatively small brokerage franchise and undiversified revenue sources, but takes into account its good liquidity and sound capitalisation.
BTS became a 100% subsidiary of TFH in January 2008 (TFH also owns Bank of Taiwan (rated 'AAA(twn)' and BankTaiwan Life Insurance). At end-Q109, BTS had a small brokerage market share of 0.7%.
Note to editors: Fitch's National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as 'AAA(twn)' for National ratings in Taiwan. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.
Contacts: Stephanie Liu, Sophia Chen, Jonathan Lee, Taipei, +886 2 8175 7600.
Media Relations: Lisa Lim, Singapore, Tel: +65 6796 7214,
Email:
lisa.lim@fitchratings.com.
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.
