Metrobank debt securities get Ba3 rating from debt-watcher Moody's

Debt-watcher Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday gave Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.'s proposed Tier 2 unsecured subordinated debt securities a Ba3 rating with a stable outlook. 

 

“Metrobank is the first Philippine bank to obtain a Moody's rating for capital qualifying subordinated debt with contractual loss absorption upon the point of non-viability, which is consistent with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas's (BSP) Basel III bank capital regulations,” Moody's noted in an e-mailed statement. 

 

“The Basel III Tier 2 rating is one notch below that of the bank's plain vanilla subordinated debt. The additional notching reflects the potential uncertainty associated with the timing of the loss absorption of the contractual non-viability subordinated debt. BSP has discretion to determine the point at which the bank is non-viable,” the debt-watcher said.

 

The Ba3 rating is linked to Metrobank’s baseline credit assessment (BCA), and could be upgraded when bank's BCA is upgraded.

 

As such, the rating could be downgraded when Metrobank's BCA is downgraded, it added. – VS, GMA News