...The outlook on Ceska Sporitelna A.S. mirrors that on its Austrian parent, Erste Group Bank AG (Erste), and reflects our view that the bank is an integral part of Erste's current identity and future strategy. The negative outlook on Erste mainly reflects our view that potential extraordinary government support for systemically important European banks will likely decrease as resolution frameworks are put in place over the next two years. Ceska's core status within the Erste group could be challenged if Erste were to substantially reduce its majority stake, if Erste's strategic interest in Central and Eastern Europe were to decline, or if Ceska's relative weight within the group were to decline, notably its equity and/or revenue contribution. In the event of any of these scenarios, we would reduce our assessment of group support and lower the ratings by one notch, all other factors being equal. A downgrade of Erste could have a subsequent impact on the rating on Ceska. However, we would then...
