Moody's changes outlooks on four Lebanese banks to negative

Moody’s has changed its outlook on four Lebanese banks to negative citing economic and political uncertainty in neighboring countries.

Moody’s pointed out that exposure to Syria and Egypt are considerable vulnerabilities for the banks.

The change in outlook affect the standalone bank financial strength ratings (BFSR) and global local-currency (GLC) deposit ratings of Bank Audi, BLOM Bank, Bank of Beirut and Byblos Bank.

Below is the full text of the statement from Moody’s

Moody's Investors Service has today changed to negative from stable the outlooks on the standalone bank financial strength ratings (BFSR) and global local-currency (GLC) deposit ratings of four Lebanese banks Bank Audi; (ii) Blom Bank; (iii) Bank of Beirut; and (iv) Byblos Bank. All four banks have D- BFSRs -- mapping to a Ba3 on Moody's long-term scale -- and Ba3 GLC deposit ratings. The outlook on Byblos Bank's B1 subordinated debt was also changed to negative from stable.

Moody's also changed the outlooks on the banks' long-term national-scale ratings (NSRs) to negative from stable (Bank Audi Aa1.lb, Blom Bank Aa1.lb, Byblos Bank Aa2.lb, Bank of Beirut Aa2.lb).