MONTERREY, Mexico & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Driven by a similar action taken at its parent company, Fitch Ratings has placed Banco Santander Mexico's (SanMex) local currency (LC) long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A' on Rating Watch Negative. Other of SanMex's international ratings were affirmed as detailed in the list of rating actions at the end of this commentary, as well as its 'AAA(mex)' and 'F1+(mex)' national scale ratings with a Stable Outlook.
SanMex's support and issuer default ratings (IDRs) are driven by the potential support that the bank would receive from its ultimate parent, Spain's Banco Santander (SAN; long-term IDR of 'AA-' on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch), if this were required. (See Fitch's commentary 'Fitch Places 8 Spanish Banks on RWN Following Sovereign Action' dated Dec. 20, 2011 and available at www.fitchratings.com).
In Fitch's opinion, the probability of support from its parent would be very high, given SanMex's significant contribution to SAN's global franchise. SanMex's support rating and IDRs will likely remain driven by sovereign and/or country ceiling considerations and by any potential change in the parent's ratings, although the downside potential for SanMex in the unlikely event of a multi-notch downgrade of SAN is limited by SanMex's viability rating of 'bbb+'. The long-term local currency IDR of SanMex that has been placed on Negative Watch could eventually be affirmed and removed from the Watch status, if a potential downgrade of SAN is for up to one notch.
For further information on SanMex's viability rating, please refer to Fitch's commentary 'Fitch Affirms Banco Santander (Mexico)'s Ratings', dated Aug. 16, 2011 and available at www.fitchratings.com.
Fitch placed the following ratings on Negative Watch:
SanMex:
--Long-term local currency IDR of 'A'.
The following ratings were affirmed:
SanMex:
--Long-term IDR at 'A-'; Outlook Stable;
--Short-term IDR at 'F1';
--Short-term local currency IDR at 'F1';
--Viability rating at 'bbb+';
--Individual rating at 'C';
--Support rating at '1';
--Long-term national-scale rating at 'AAA(mex)'; Outlook Stable;
--Short-term national-scale rating at 'F1+(mex)';
--Long-term national-scale rating for local senior unsecured debt issues at 'AAA(mex)';
--Long-term national-scale rating for local issues of market linked securities at 'AAA(emr)(mex)'.
Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The ratings above were solicited by, or on behalf of, the issuer, and therefore, Fitch has been compensated for the provision of the ratings.
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
--'Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria', Aug. 16, 2011.
--'National Ratings Criteria', Jan. 19, 2011.
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
National Ratings Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=595885
Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=649171
ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE '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.