...Leading Bancassurance Franchise in Spain: CaixaBank, S.A.'s ratings reflect its leading position in retail banking, insurance and asset management in Spain, its asset -quality improvement, a large and stable deposit base, and its adequate capitalisation. The rating s also reflect above-average risk appetite, albeit significantly reduced, from its equity investments. Improving Asset Quality: CaixaBank has completed a significant balance-sheet clean-up, following the sale of the bulk of its foreclosed assets as part of a spin-off its real estate business in 2018. We expect asset-quality indicators to improve further by end-2019 and in 2020, driven by continued recoveries and small portfolio sales. However, CaixaBank's problem assets ratio (4.6% at end-September 2019, including Stage 3 loans and foreclosed assets) is likely to remain above some European peers' as the bank is still weighed down by legacy exposures. Reduced Exposure to Market Risk: CaixaBank's exposure to market risk is above...
