lybeni的部落格

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)
NEW YORK, November 10 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has assigned a
rating of 'BBB-' to
the $750 million in preferred stock issued by American Express
Company (AXP,
rated 'A+/F1' by Fitch). This preferred issuance represents
approximately 1% of
AXP's total risk-weighted assets at Sept. 30, 2014.
AXP had previously stated that it would issue preferred shares
for Basel III
capital planning purposes. More specifically, the new Tier 1
ratio requirement
under Basel III is 150 basis points higher than the current
common equity Tier 1
ratio and regulators have started using the new minimums to
assess capital
adequacy in the CCAR process.
Fitch believes AXP's strategy is consistent with other large
financial
institutions which have included preferred stock in their
non-common Tier 1
capital structures.
KEY RATING DRIVERS - Preferred Shares
AXP's preferred stock rating is five notches below the entity's
Viability Rating
(VR) of 'a+' in accordance with Fitch's assessment of each
instrument's
respective non-performance and relative loss severity risk
profile. The
preferred stock rating includes two notches for loss severity
given these
securities deep subordination in the capital structure, and
three notches for
non-performance given that the coupon of the securities is
non-cumulative and
fully discretionary.
Fitch has accorded these preferred securities equity credit of
50%, which is in
line with its methodology in assessing and rating bank
subordinated and hybrid
securities.
RATING SENSITIVITIES - Preferred Shares
The preferred stock ratings are directly linked to AXP's VR and
would move in
tandem with any changes in AXP's credit profile.
Contact:
Primary Analyst
Brendan Sheehy
Director
+1-212-908-9138
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
33 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
Secondary Analyst
Meghan Neenan, CFA
Senior Director
+1-212-908-9121
Committee Chairperson
Nathan Flanders
Managing Director
+1-212-908-0827
Media Relations: Brian Bertsch, New York, Tel: +1 212-908-0549,
Email:
brian.bertsch@fitchratings.com.
Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com.
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
--'Assessing and Rating Bank Subordinated and Hybrid Securities
Criteria'
(January 2014)
--'Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria' (January
2014);
--'Finance and Leasing Companies Criteria' (December 2012);
--'U.S. Bank HoldCos & OpCos: Evolving Risk Profiles' (March
2014);
--'FinCo Deposit Sensitivity to Rising Rates' (January 2014);
--'Nonbank Financial Institution Interest Rate Sensitivity'
(January 2014);
--'3Q13 U.S. Bank Capital Ratios' (December 2013);
--'2014 Outlook: U.S. Finance and Leasing Companies' (November
2013);
--'Fitch Fundamentals Index - U.S.' (October 2013).
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
Fitch Fundamentals Index - U.S. (3Q14)
here
2014 Outlook: U.S. Finance and Leasing Companies (Strong
Fundamentals, But
Sector Headwinds Persist)
here
3Q13 U.S. Bank Capital Ratios
here
Nonbank Financial Institution Interest Rate Sensitivity
here
FinCo Deposit Sensitivity to Rising Rates
here
Finance and Leasing Companies Criteria
here
Assessing and Rating Bank Subordinated and Hybrid Securities
Criteria
here
U.S. Bank HoldCos & OpCos: Evolving Risk Profiles
here
Additional Disclosure
Solicitation Status
here
ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND
DISCLAIMERS.
PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS
LINK:
here. 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. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER
PERMISSIBLE
SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES.
DETAILS OF THIS
SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN
EU-REGISTERED
ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER
ON THE FITCH
WEBSITE.