On Nov. 1, 2026, Fairstone Bank of Canada (Fairstone, not rated) completed its acquisition of Laurentian Bank of Canada (Laurentian). We now view Laurentian as an integral part of the consolidated Fairstone and consider its creditworthiness to be interconnected with that of the group. In our view, the consolidation of Laurentian into Fairstone positively affects the credit quality of the combined entities, which ultimately benefits our ratings on Laurentian through group support. We therefore affirmed our'BBB/A-2'issuer credit ratings and all issue-level ratings on Laurentian and removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications. The outlook is stable, reflecting our view of the stable creditworthiness of the combined entities supported by their strong capital and earnings and improving business
