Singapore-based rating agency, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had placed its 'A-1' short-term issue rating on the U.S. commercial paper (USCP) program of ICICI Bank on CreditWatch with negative implications.
The CreditWatch placement follows yesterday's placement of the counterparty credit rating on Bank of America (BofA) on CreditWatch with negative implications.
BofA supports the USCP program through an irrevocable $375 million direct-pay letter of credit. As BofA will directly pay the USCP holders on the maturity dates, the commercial papers bear the credit risk of BofA and are rated equivalent to the short-term counterparty credit rating on BofA.
The ratings on all the other issues of ICICI Bank are not affected by this rating actions, S&P stated.
"The CreditWatch will be resolved based on the resolution of the CreditWatch on BofA, as the ratings will move in tandem. We may lower the issue rating by one notch or affirm it," the agency stated in the report.
