The stable outlook reflects our expectations that SNB will maintain solid capitalization while keeping risks associated with lending growth in check. We also expect that SNB will sustain its underwriting standards over the next 24 months, with minimal government interference. We view a negative rating action as unlikely over the next 24 months, because it would require both a one-notch weakening of the bank's intrinsic creditworthiness and a downgrade of the sovereign. Still, a significant deterioration in SNB's asset quality, increased government interference in decision-making that leads to significant risk build-up on SNB's balance sheet, or weaker capitalization could pose downside risks to the bank's stand-alone credit profile (SACP). A positive rating action could be triggered by either an improvement
