...Support Drives Ratings: Commercial Bank of Kuwait's (CBK) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) are driven by an extremely high probability of support from the Kuwaiti authorities, if needed. This considers Kuwait's strong ability to provide support to domestic banks, as reflected by the sovereign rating and a strong willingness to do so, irrespective of the banks' size, franchise, funding structure and the level of government ownership. This view is reinforced by the authorities' record of support for the domestic banking system. The Viability Rating (VR) reflects CBK's concentrated balance sheet and profitability that is below peers'. It also considers the bank's moderate franchise, low impaired loans ratio, adequate capitalisation, stable funding and healthy liquidity. Moderate Franchise: CBK has a moderate franchise in Kuwait with a 7.3% market share of system assets and a good presence in the corporate banking sector. CBK's brand and adequate branch network underpin the bank's distribution...
