Rating Actions Taken On Abanca C.B., Bankia, And Banco Popular Español Following Review Of Spanish Banks

OVERVIEW The economic environment in which Spanish banks operate is likely to become more supportive as the economy and property market enter a cyclical recovery, in our view. We believe this will help support the improving trends we have already anticipated for banks' profitability, capital strengthening, and the reduction of problematic assets, but we view these trends as unlikely, by themselves, to lead us to take widespread positive rating actions. That said, bank-specific developments have led us to raise the ratings on Abanca Corporación Bancaria S.A., as well as revise the outlooks to stable from negative on Bankia S.A. (and its holding company) and Banco Popular Español S.A. We affirmed the ratings on the remaining eight rated Spanish banks, while

...OVERVIEW + The economic environment in which Spanish banks operate is likely to become more supportive as the economy and property market enter a cyclical recovery, in our view. + We believe this will help support the improving trends we have already anticipated for banks' profitability, capital strengthening, and the reduction of problematic assets, but we view these trends as unlikely, by themselves, to lead us to take widespread positive rating actions. + That said, bank-specific developments have led us to raise the ratings on Abanca Corporaci=n Bancaria S.A., as well as revise the outlooks to stable from negative on Bankia S.A. (and its holding company) and Banco Popular Espa±ol S.A. + We affirmed the ratings on the remaining eight rated Spanish banks, while the ratings on another two entities remain on CreditWatch with negative implications. MADRID (Standard & Poor's) April 22, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today took the following rating actions: + We raised the long-term...

Ratings Action