Fitch Ratings has retained its ‘AAA’ national rating on Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc as well as Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited. his is just as the international rating agency also assigned Sterling Bank Plc a long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘B-‘ and a national long-term rating of ‘BBB-(nga)’. It also assigned a stable outlook on Sterling Bank. It explained that its rating on Stanbic IBTC reflected the credit worthiness of the bank and the holding company. The ‘AAA’ national rating is assigned to institutions with the lowest relative risk.

In arriving at the rating for Stanbic IBTC, Fitch took account of the strong parental support from Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings belong. The parent company provides support in such areas as staff training, provision of information technology upgrades and best practice processes as well as strong corporate governance practices.