Strategically important subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC. Strong market position, especially in South African retail banking. Good risk management and controls. The higher-than-average social and operational risks in South Africa, the bank's main area of concentration. Pressured asset quality and aggressive provisioning. Above-average structural liquidity risks, common to South African banks. The public information ('pi'; unsolicited) rating on Absa Bank Ltd. reflects the bank's strategic importance to its majority shareholder, U.K.-based Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays; AA-/Negative/A-1+), its strong market position in South African retail banking, and strong risk management and controls. The ratings are constrained by the higher-than-average social and operational risks in South Africa (foreign currency rating BBB+/Negative/A-2, local currency rating A+/Negative/A-1, South African National Scale Rating zaAAA/zaA-1), declining
