OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has upgraded Skipton Building Society's (Skipton) GBP2bn euro medium-term note (EMTN) programme to long-term rating 'BBB+' from 'BBB'. The programme's short-termrating is affirmed at 'F2'.

The ratings apply only to the issuance of senior unsecured notes by Skipton. The ratings are programme ratings and do not imply that they will be assigned to all notes issued under the programme. There are no notes currently issued under the programme.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The programme's long-term rating is in line with Skipton's 'BBB+' Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR). Fitch views the likelihood of default on any given senior unsecured obligation as the same as the likelihood of default of the society, because default on senior unsecured obligations would be treated by Fitch as a default of the entity.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
The ratings on the EMTN programme are primarily sensitive to changes to Skipton's IDRs.y basis.