...State Support-Driven IDRs: Fitch Ratings equalises the ratings of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) with those of Korea (AA-/Stable), to reflect our expectation of an extremely high probability that the policy bank would receive extraordinary state support in times of need. This expectation stems from the bank's policy roles and the government's de-facto solvency guarantee for ¡ and commitment to hold a controlling stake in ¡ the bank. IBK's key policy role is to provide credit to small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially in times of systemic stress when commercial banks are reluctant to lend. The government is obliged to cover any losses incurred by IBK that are not covered by the bank's reserves, according to Article 43 of the bank's establishing Act. We believe Korea is committed to keep a majority stake in IBK, even though its stake in IBK has fallen significantly since November 2013 from 72.3% to 54.9% now. IBK had previously needed ¡ and received ¡ state capital injections....
