The ratings on French car-financing company RCI Banque reflect its solid stand-alone financial profile, including conservative liquidity management, and its status as a fully regulated bank with moderate systemic importance in France. Constraining rating factors include RCI's wholesale-funded profile, its strong business concentration and reliance on Renault group branding, and Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' anticipation of weaker earnings prospects in 2009 and 2010. RCI acts a captive finance arm for parent Renault S.A. (BB/Stable/B), and we believe that RCI has an instrumental role in supporting its parent's sales. We have rated RCI higher than Renault, typically by one notch, for some time based on our view of: the bank's stronger and more resilient financial profile, independent refinancing strategy, and
