...Strong Correlation with Sovereign Risk: Commercial International Bank's (CIB) large exposure to Egyptian sovereign debt (around 47% of assets at end-3Q15) means that its risk profile is in Fitch Ratings' view strongly correlated with that of the Egyptian sovereign. VR Capped: We view many of CIB's financial metrics as stronger and less volatile than those of its domestic peers. However, the bank's significant exposure to sovereign debt is a key Viability Rating (VR) driver and effectively caps CIB's VR at the level of the Egyptian sovereign. Difficult Operating Environment: We expect CIB's domestic operating environment to remain challenging in 2016 with modest credit demand from better-quality commercial counterparties. Foreign-currency liquidity, which is adequate at CIB, will have to remain well managed. Above-Average Loan Quality: Loan book quality compares well with peers. The impaired loans ratio is stronger and concentration risk, while still high, lower than peers'. However, loans...
