OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has today assigned an expected 'BBB+(EXP)' rating to KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited's (KBank; BBB+/Stable) proposed US-dollar denominated senior unsecured notes, which will be issued under its USD2.5bn Euro Medium-Term Notes (EMTN) programme. The EMTN programme was affirmed at 'BBB+' in 17 May 2016.

The proposed tenure for the notes will be up to 5.5 years and they will be issued through KBank's Hong Kong branch. The proceeds would be used for the bank's funding and general corporate purposes.

The final rating is subject to the receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The senior notes are rated at the same level as KBank's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'BBB+' as they represent unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the bank.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

The rating of the senior unsecured notes would be directly impacted by any changes in KBank's Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR.