Bank of Russia increases minimum credit rating requirements for securities to be included in Lombard List

Taking into account that the liquidity surplus will remain in the medium term and that credit institutions possess sufficient amounts of collateral, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors has decided to raise the requirements for the minimum credit rating of the issue (issuer) of bonds included in the Bank of Russia Lombard List (hereinafter, the Lombard List).

Beginning from 1 January 2020, bonds issued by legal entities that are residents of the Russian Federation and by constituent territories of the Russian Federation and municipalities should have the minimum credit rating of the issue (issuer) of А+(RU) / ruA+ assigned by the credit rating agencies ACRA JSC / JSC Expert RA.

For issue-grade debt securities issued by legal entities that are non-residents of the Russian Federation, the minimum credit rating of the issue should be ВВ / Ва2 assigned by the rating agencies S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings / Moody’s Investors Service.

To include the said securities in the Lombard List, the Bank of Russia, in addition to ratings, will also take into account their offering and trading conditions, as well as other material aspects.

The decision to raise the minimum credit rating for securities to be put on the Lombard List is not applicable to the issues of securities included in the Lombard List before 1 January 2020.

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