The ratings on Italy-based Iccrea Banca SpA primarily reflect its status as the central bank of the Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC), a large and cohesive network of small Italian cooperative banks with a solid and stable aggregate financial profile. BCCs' aggregate creditworthiness leverages a strong market position in Italy, adequate aggregate financial profile, and sound support mechanism that strongly limits depositors' losses. Conversely, BCCs' often unsophisticated risk culture and their vulnerability to the current deterioration in the domestic economy, due to fast loan growth and loan concentrations, are negative rating factors. At midyear 2008, the BCC network was made up of about 440 rural cooperative banks, with a combined market share and capitalization comparable with those of a large
