HDFC Bank on Friday said in an exchange filing that it is in the process of carrying out modifications to the structure of all the issuances done from Bahrain to ensure that the bonds issued by the bank are insulated from any rating actions on the host country.
On February 17, S&P lowered its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Bahrain to BB/B (stable) from BBB-/A3 (negative), HDFC Bank pointed out.
The bank also indicated that it has outstanding bonds totaling to approx $1.20 billion issued from Bahrain branch.
“These bonds have a dual rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) of BBB- and Moody’s of Baa3. The issuer rating of HDFC Bank by S&P and Moody’s is BBB- and Baa3 respectively,” the statement said.
“The rating criteria publi shed by S&P restrict the rating of any Bond issued in a jurisdiction to the host country rating. Consequent to the recent rating action on Bahrain, the Bonds issued by HDFC Bank may also be subject to rating action by S&P,” HDFC Bank said.