OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has today assigned Standard Bank p.l.c.'s USD 100 million 10% issue of limited recourse loan participation notes due 2009 final ratings of Recovery 'RR4' and Long-term 'B-(B minus)'.

The notes are to be used solely for financing a loan to Ukraine-based Bank Forum ("Forum"), which is rated Issuer Default ("IDR") 'B-(B minus)', Short-term 'B', Individual 'D/E', Support '5'. The Outlook on the IDR is Stable.

According to National Bank of Ukraine, Forum was the 12th largest Ukrainian bank by assets at end-June 2006. Forum's principal activities are corporate banking, with a focus on small and medium-sized companies and retail banking. The bank is majority-owned by Leonid Yurushev, a local businessman, and the members of his family.