Brazil-based universal bank, Banco Bradesco S.A., has kept its prominent position in the domestic market as well as its leading position in the Brazilian insurance market. Moreover, we expect its asset quality metrics to continue improving following our expectation of modest growth of the bank's lending portfolio and better economic prospects. We're affirming our 'BB-/B' global scale and 'brAA-/brA-1+' national scale ratings on Bradesco. The outlook remains stable, reflecting that on the sovereign, which currently limits the ratings on Bradesco due to its high exposure in the domestic market. On April 2, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'BB-/B' global scale and 'brAA-/brA-1+' national scale ratings on Banco Bradesco S.A. (Bradesco). We also affirmed our 'BB-' issue-level rating on the
