...Institutional Support Drives Ratings: Banco BPI S.A.'s Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), senior debt ratings and Support Rating reflect a high probability of support from its ultimate parent, CaixaBank S.A. (BBB/Positive), in case of need. Fitch Ratings believes Portugal is a strategically important market for CaixaBank as demonstrated by the longstanding investment in Banco BPI and its willingness to take control of the bank despite the related capital consumption and the difficulties inherent in a cross-border acquisition. Capped One Notch Above Sovereign: Banco BPI's Long-Term IDR is capped one notch above that of Portugal. Fitch believes CaixaBank's propensity to support Banco BPI is linked to Portugal's operating environment, since this affects the attractiveness of Banco BPI to the group and Banco BPI's impact on CaixaBank's overall risk and returns profile. Acceptable Capitalisation: The bank's Viability Rating (VR) reflects stronger asset quality and funding profile than domestic peers...
