Citibank Korea Inc.

CKI will likely receive extraordinary support, including additional loss-absorbing capacity (ALAC) support, from the group under almost all foreseeable circumstances. The stand-alone credit profile (SACP) is not a major rating driver for CKI, given the bank's highly strategic group status. The stable outlook on CKI reflects our outlook on Citibank N.A., the U.S.-based lead bank of the group. We believe CKI will continue to play a critical role in the institutional banking business as a highly strategic subsidiary of the group over the next two years at least. The group has both the capacity and willingness to provide significant support to CKI, if needed, in our view. We could downgrade CKI if we lower our ratings on Citibank N.A. We

...Citibank Korea Inc. (CKI) will remain highly important to Citigroup's business strategy. In our view, the bank will continue leveraging the group's global franchise and networks to provide various institutional banking services. This is even as the group continues to wind down its consumer banking business in phases. CKI will likely receive extraordinary support, including additional loss-absorbing capacity (ALAC) support, from the group under almost all foreseeable circumstances. The stand-alone credit profile (SACP) is not a major rating driver for CKI, given the bank's highly strategic group status. We expect CKI to maintain strong capitalization over the next two years. This is backed by the bank's continuing focus on managing risks amid tough macroeconomic conditions. CKI's loan book will continue to shrink over time, driven by the ongoing closure of consumer banking business. At the same time, we anticipate a gradual improvement in profitability, driven by better cost efficiency....

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