Banco Union S.A. And Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz 'B+/B' Ratings Affirmed On Revised Criteria; Outlooks Still Negative

We have reviewed our ratings on two Bolivian banks under our revised criteria. We have affirmed the ratings on these banks, and the outlooks are unchanged. MEXICO CITY (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 15, 2021--S&P Global Ratings today said that it has affirmed its issuer credit ratings on Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz S.A. (BMSC) and Banco Union S.A. The affirmations follow a revision to our criteria for rating banks and nonbank financial institutions and for determining a Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA). (See "Financial Institutions Ratings Methodology," published Dec. 9, 2021 and "Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment Methodology And Assumptions," published Dec. 9, 2021). Our outlooks on the two banks remain unchanged. Our assessments of economic risk and industry risk

...December 15, 2021 - We have reviewed our ratings on two Bolivian banks under our revised criteria. - We have affirmed the ratings on these banks, and the outlooks are unchanged. MEXICO CITY (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 15, 2021--S&P Global Ratings today said that it has affirmed its issuer credit ratings on Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz S.A. (BMSC) and Banco Union S.A. The affirmations follow a revision to our criteria for rating banks and nonbank financial institutions and for determining a Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA). (See "Financial Institutions Ratings Methodology," published Dec. 9, 2021 and "Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment Methodology And Assumptions," published Dec. 9, 2021). Our outlooks on the two banks remain unchanged. Our assessments of economic risk and industry risk in Bolivia (B+/Negative/B) also remain unchanged at '9' and '8', respectively. These scores determine the BICRA and the anchor, or starting point, for our ratings on financial institutions...

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