Moody’s Affirms Masraf Al Rayan’s Ratings; Places Al Khalij Commercial Bank’s Ratings on Review for Upgrade

Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has affirmed the long-term and short-term issuer ratings of Masraf Al Rayan (MAR) at A1/P-1. Concurrently, Moody’s has placed the long-term and short-term bank deposit ratings of Al Khalij Commercial Bank (AKCB) at A3/P-2 on review for upgrade. MAR’s long-term issuer ratings’ Outlook remains Stable.

The rating action follows the progress made by MAR and AKCB in seeking approvals following their merger announcement in January 2021. The merger is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021, after which MAR will be the surviving entity, with all assets and liabilities of AKCB transferred to MAR in exchange for new MAR shares to be issued to AKCB’s shareholders.

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