Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings confirm CEB’s excellent credit ratings

PARIS - Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch maintained their excellent ratings for the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). 

In its rating report published on 12 September 2022, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) confirmed CEB’s AAA rating with a ‘stable’ outlook, the highest rating possible. The following key elements were highlighted:

• CEB’s ‘aaa’ stand-alone capital position (SACP),
• ‘Very strong’ liquidity and funding.

S&P’s stressed CEB’s timely and solid response, first to the COVID-19 pandemic and now to the war in Ukraine, underlining its relevance as an international financial institution.

The rating agency also maintained its ‘Extremely strong’ assessment of CEB’s Enterprise risk profile and Financial risk profile, leading to an ‘aaa’ Stand-alone credit profile assessment. This was supported by the strong quality of CEB’s assets, the positive impact of its funding and liquidity position, excellent track record in terms of Preferred Creditor Treatment (PCT), as well as its strong governance and risk management standards.

In its credit opinion published on 27 July 2022, Moody’s maintained CEB’s Aa1 rating ‘stable’, highlighting:

• CEB’s pristine asset performance record, supported by its conservative risk management policies and preferred creditor status;
• CEB’s consistently strong liquidity profile and access to funding.

Moody’s outlined CEB’s increasing relevance of CEB’s mandate in the context of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Furthermore, the rating agency considered that non-contractual support from CEB’s Member States had increased in the past five years and had been further reinforced by its provision of emergency support during the pandemic shock across Europe.

In addition, Moody’s maintained its scores for the Bank’s fundamental factors: CEB’s ‘a3’ capital adequacy, supported by its solid underlying profitability, its asset quality enhanced by its preferred creditor status and its superior asset performance; and CEB’s ‘aa2’ liquidity and funding factor, based on its ‘strong’ liquidity positions and its ‘strong’ track record of stable access to market funding at competitive rates.

In its press release published on 22 July 2022, Fitch Ratings maintained its ‘positive’ outlook for the CEB with an AA+ rating, reflecting the following rationale:

• Resilience of the Bank’s solvency profile;
• Robust capitalisation and asset quality metrics despite the COVID-19 crisis and ongoing war in Ukraine.

Fitch Ratings underlined CEB’s increased public importance owing to the role played by during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the recent resettlement support and assistance to Ukrainian refugees, and Ukraine’s prospective accession to the Bank.

Furthermore, CEB’s ‘strong’ capitalisation and ‘very low’ risk profile, supported by the absence of non-performing loans, spotlighted CEB’s ‘aa-’ solvency assessment. Fitch maintained the Bank’s ‘aaa’ liquidity, underpinned by its excellent liquidity buffer and the strong credit quality of its treasury portfolio.