Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Ltd.

The stable outlook on the long-term issuer credit rating reflects our view that SCBS will receive timely support from the wider Standard Chartered group or Singapore government, if needed. We expect the group and the government to be willing and able to support SCBS to a level commensurate with our 'A+/A-1' ratings. A downgrade is highly unlikely, given that this would require a reduction in SCBS' stand-alone creditworthiness and a weaker group credit profile. Reduced group creditworthiness would not lead to a downgrade by itself, given government support for SCBS. We believe an upgrade of SCBS is highly unlikely over the next 24 months. The 'bbb+' anchor draws on our Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) methodology and our view

...Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Ltd. (SCBS) benefits from both group and government support. The bank's position as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hub strengthens its core group status within the Standard Chartered group. We therefore equalize the rating with the 'a+' group credit profile. We also expect SCBS to benefit from government support. This reflects the bank's moderate systemic importance in Singapore, which is highly supportive of the banking sector. Such support will result in the same two-notch uplift above the stand-alone credit profile (SACP) that we envisage from group support. SCBS' capitalization buffers remain strong. In our base case, the bank's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio will stay well above 10% over the next 12-24 months, mainly due to our expectation of low single-digit loan growth despite high dividend payouts. Asset quality will remain resilient. Group-wide de-risking initiatives underpinned SCBS' asset quality improvement over the...

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