Lánamál ríkisins - Company Announcement

Fitch Ratings: change in methodology aligns long-term local currency ratings with long-term foreign currency ratings

This week international rating agency Fitch Ratings held a global portfolio
rating committee related to an overhaul of the Agency’s sovereign methodology
released on May 26th, 2016. The results of the committee were published today.
As part of the methodology adjustment Fitch changed its approach to the
assessment of the long-term local currency (LTLC) ratings, bringing these
ratings in line with the long-term foreign currency (LTFC) ratings for most
sovereigns globally.  In addition, Fitch has assigned new issuer default
ratings (IDR) for short-term local currency (STLC) obligations. As part of the
criteria related ratings recalibration, Fitch has lowered Iceland’s LTLC rating
in line with its LTFC rating of BBB+, which was affirmed by the Agency on July
15th with a stable outlook. The ratings for short-term obligations in both
foreign and local currency have also been affirmed at F2 Iceland’s sovereign
ratings continue to be supported by the country’s strong macroeconomic
fundamentals, sustained improvements in fiscal and external indicators, and
solid institutional base. 

Corresponding changes will be made to the ratings of other sovereigns whose
LTLC ratings were a notch above their LTFC ratings. 

The Fitch press release can be found in attachment

Attachments:

Fitch Ratings_changes methology.22 JUL 2016 4.pdf