CIMB Islamic Bank receives Moody’s ratings

It’s the first Moody’s rating for the bank.

Moody’s Investors Service said the ratings for local currency deposits and issuer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd stood at A1/P-1 and foreign currency deposits and issuer at A3/P-2.

The Bank Financial Strength rating (BFSR) is D+, mapping to a baseline credit assessment (BCA) of ba1. The adjusted BCA, incorporating parental support, is baa1.

The A1 long-term local currency deposit and issuer ratings incorporate Moody’s expectation of full parental support from CIMB Bank (A1 stable, C-/baa1 stable), which resulted in the rating uplift from its baseline credit assessment (BCA) of ba1.

Moody’s has assigned deposit ratings to CIMB Islamic on the basis that the ratings applied to the bank’s deposits in accordance with the definition of Islamic deposits laid out in the 2013 Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, which excludes investment accounts with contractual loss-sharing features.

It said this expectation of support was based primarily on CIMB Islamic’s strategic importance to CIMB Group’s (not rated) Islamic banking business in Malaysia. CIMB Bank owns 100 per cent of CIMB Islamic. The bank’s adjusted BCA, incorporating parental support, is baa1.