Monday, April 06 2009 Commercial Banking Gulf International Bank’s Individual rating upgraded by Fitch By: Staff Writer Print this article Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Gulf International Bank’s (GIB) long-term issuer default rating at “A” with a stable outlook while upgrading the Bank’s Individual rating to “C/D” from “D”. Fitch has also affirmed GIB's short-term rating at “F1” and subordinated debt obligations at “A-”. The upgrade of the Individual rating reflected the announcement that shareholders of GIB were acquiring $4.8 billion of non-core investment securities from GIB and the positive impact this will have on the bank's risk profile, capitalisation and liquidity. Following the sale of the securities, GIB will have no exposure to collateralised debt obligations or asset-backed securities. According to Fitch, the ratings affirmation and upgrade reflect the extremely high probability that the bank would receive financial support from its shareholders, in case of need. Fitch considers GIB's shareholders' acquisition of the Bank’s non-core investment securities as a demonstration of an extremely strong ability and propensity to support GIB. The agency stated that this acquisition is “an unprecedented support measure in the Middle East in terms of scale.” Fitch also commented that “with the removal of a significant amount of uncertainty over potential further losses from GIB's investment portfolio, Fitch now considers GIB's market risk profile to be moderate rather than high.” The rating agency added that it considers GIB's capitalisation as adequate, that GIB's liquidity will improve following the transaction, and the asset quality in GIB’s loan book remains strong, with impaired loans below 0.1% of gross loans at the end of 2008.

Gulf International Bank B.S.C. contact details Contact: Dr. Khaled Al-Fayez Designation: Chief Executive Officer E-mail: info@gibbah.com P.O. Box 1017 Manama Country: Bahrain Main Switch Board: 973 17 534000 Fax: 973 17 522422 Activities: Merchant Banking, Structured Finance, Asset Management, Investment Banking, Islamic Banking For more information visit us at www.gibonline.com Click here to search in our MENA Financial Directory

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