Press Release
DBRS Places Bank of America’s “A” Rating Under Review With Negative Implications
Banking Organizations, Non-Bank Financial InstitutionsDBRS, Inc. (DBRS) has today placed that the long and short-term ratings of Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America or the Company), including its Issuer & Senior Debt Rating of “A”, its R-1 (middle) Short-Term Instruments Rating, and Bank of America, N.A.’s A (high) Deposits & Senior Debt and its R-1 (middle) Short-Term Instruments Rating Under Review with Negative Implications.
This rating action follows DBRS’s announcement that it has removed the Bank Holding Company “A” rating floor, and the related A (high) operating bank rating floor, for banks that were designated as critically important banking organizations (CIBs) in the United States (see “DBRS Removes U.S. Rating Floor”, published September 4, 2013 for further details).
With the removal of the rating floor, DBRS will review the Company’s fundamentals and intrinsic rating level. DBRS’s review will also incorporate any improvements at Bank of America and its subsidiaries in its assessment. Previously, DBRS has indicated that both Bank of America’s final debt ratings as well as the final debt ratings of its primary banking subsidiaries each incorporated one notch of uplift from DBRS’ intrinsic assessments due to the application of the rating floor in the U.S.
The review is expected to be completed within 90 days.
Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
The principal applicable methodology is the Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organizations. Other applicable methodologies include the DBRS Criteria – Intrinsic and Support Assessments, DBRS Criteria: Bank and Bank Holding Company Trust Preferred Securities, DBRS Criteria: Rating Bank Subordinated Debt & Hybrid Instruments with Discretionary Payments and DBRS Criteria: Rating Bank Preferred Shares & Equivalent Hybrids. These can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies
[Amended on August 28, 2014 to reflect actual methodologies used.]
The sources of information used for this rating include the company documents, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and SNL Financial. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.
This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.
Lead Analyst: William Schwartz
Rating Committee Chair: Alan G. Reid
Initial Rating Date: 16 May 2001
Most Recent Rating Update: 27 September 2011
For additional information on this rating, please refer to the linking document under Related Research.
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ALL MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLAIMERS AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. PLEASE READ THESE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS, POLICIES, RATING SCALES AND METHODOLOGIES.
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Contacts
Michael Driscoll
Credit Rating Officer - Global Financial Institution Ratings
+(1) 212 806 3243
michael.driscoll@morningstar.com- Alan G. Reid
Group Managing Director, Global Head of Fundamental Ratings - Credit Ratings Leadership
+(1) 212 806 3232
alan.reid@morningstar.com - William Schwartz
Associate Credit Rating Officer - Global Fundamental Ratings, Rating Practices
+(1) 212 806 3233
william.schwartz@morningstar.com