Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Banco Internacional del Perú (Interbank) Panama Branch's Baa2 senior unsecured global rating and the Baa1 (cr) /Prime - 2 (cr) long and short-term counterparty risk assessments.
Interbank Panama's rating and assessments were affirmed and its outlook changed to positive from stable following a similar change in the outlook of its head office Interbank, based in Lima (Peru) on September 5.
Interbank Panama's rating reflects its status as a branch of Interbank (Baa2 Positive) and incorporates Moody's view of Interbank's credit risk profile and its legal responsibilities with respect to branch obligations. For more information on the recent change in Interbank's outlook,
click here.
What could make the rating go down?
As a full branch of Interbank, Interbank Panama's ratings will move in line with those of its home office.
As indicated by its positive outlook, an upgrade of Interbank's ratings is likely if the bank manages to avoid further deterioration of its asset quality and profitability, capitalization levels and liquidity remain stable even as loan growth accelerates, and dependence on market funding does not increase substantially.
However, the bank's ratings could be affirmed at the current level and the outlook stabilized if the recent improvements in capitalization are reversed, or if its asset risk profile worsens and credit costs fail to stabilize as expected, putting further downward pressure on profitability.