Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency headquartered in New York and London, recently confirmed its ratings for AccessBank, a financial institution in Azerbaijan. AccessBank’s long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) was confirmed at ‘BB+’ with ‘Outlook Stable’, its short-term IDR was confirmed at ‘B’ and its Individual Rating was confirmed at ‘D’, all of which are at the ‘sovereign ceiling’ which is generally the highest available in a given country. Dr Andrew Pospielovsky, the General Manager of AccessBank, interprets the rating as an indicator of the bank’s solid liquidity cushion and capitalization, stating that “the repeated reconfirmation by Fitch Ratings of AccessBank as the highest rated non-state owned bank in Azerbaijan is a testimony to the stability and strength of AccessBank.”
By Jacqueline Foelster, Research Associate
About AccessBank: AccessBank was founded in 2002 as the Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan (MFBA) and was renamed AccessBank in 2008. AccessBank is owned by six organizations: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (20 percent), a financial institution owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions; the International Finance Corporation (20 percent), the private investment arm of the World Bank; the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (20 percent), a financial institution with eleven European member countries; Germany’s KfW Development Bank (20 percent); AccessHolding (16.50 percent), a commercial microfinance holding company based in Germany; and LFS Financial Systems GmbH (3.47 percent), a German consulting and management company that focuses on microfinance projects. According to the MIX Market, as of December 31, 2009, AccessBank had total assets worth USD 375 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 297 million and 99,900 active borrowers.
Sources and resources:
[1] Access Bank Press Release, March 4, 2011, “Fitch Confirms AcessBank’s BB+ Rating”, http://www.accessbank.az/en/page/2011-03-04.html
MicroCapital.org Article, January 26, 2011, “AccessBank of Azerbaijan Reports Deposit Portfolio Increase of 86 Percent During 2010”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-accessbank-of-azerbaijan-reports-deposit-portfolio-increase-of-86-percent-during-2010/
MicroCapital Microfinance Universe Profile: AccessBank, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=AccessBank
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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