Moody's Places Yes Bank's Ratings Under Review

Citing continued uncertainty with regards to Yes Bank's capital raising plan, Moody's Investors Service placed the bank's long-term foreign currency issuer rating of B2 under review.

Moody's also placed the bank's long-term foreign and local currency bank deposit ratings of B2, and its foreign currency senior unsecured MTN programme rating of (P)B2, under review, "with the direction uncertain". It also downgraded the bank's Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) and adjusted the BCA.

The agency said that the "standalone viability of Yes Bank is getting increasingly challenged by its slowness in raising new capital".

"The potential credit risk to the bank's senior creditors is uncertain, because there are a number of diverse scenarios that could affect the rating in either positive or negative directions."

"Yes Bank is in discussions with a number of investors to raise new equity capital, which would be credit positive if executed successfully. If the bank successfully recapitalises and repairs and cleans its balance sheet, its ratings could stabilise or face upward pressure," Moodys said.

If a private sector solution is unsuccessful, and a regulatory-led resolution is implemented, Moody's expects that the Indian authorities will strive to maintain systemic stability and avoid losses to depositors and senior creditors.

Any concrete measures from the Indian authorities to resolve the bank without losses to the bank's depositors and senior creditors could also lead to a stabilization or upward movement in the bank's ratings, the rating agency said.

Yes Bank earlier this week said that the bank's overall capital adequacy ratio is "comfortably above regulatory requirements and all efforts are being made to financially strengthen the bank even further."