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Fitch Affirms Morocco's BMCI, Eqdom, SGMB and CM

Fitch Ratings-London/Paris/Tunis - Fitch Ratings has today affirmed Banque Marocaine pour le Commerce et l'Industrie's (BMCI) National Long- and Short-term ratings at 'AAA(mar)' and 'F1+(mar)', respectively, and Eqdom 's National Long- and Short-term ratings at 'AA(mar)' and 'F1+(mar)', respectively. The Outlooks for all the National Long-term ratings remain Stable. The Support ratings for BMCI , Societe Generale Marocaine de Banques (SGMB) and Credit du Maroc (CM) are affirmed at '2' and Eqdom 's Support rating is affirmed at '3'.

The National ratings of BMCI and Eqdom are underpinned by the support they can expect from their main shareholders, which are France's BNP Paribas (BNPP, rated 'AA'/'F1+'/Outlook Stable) and Societe Generale (SG, rated 'AA'/'F1+'/Outlook Stable), respectively.

BMCI is 65%-owned by BNPP and strongly integrated in its parent. Fitch believes that there is an extremely high probability that BNPP would support BMCI if needed. However, the probability of such support is only high due to Morocco's sovereign Country Ceiling.

BMCI is the fourth-largest bank in Morocco, with around 9% and 13% market shares of deposits and loans, respectively. BMCI is closely integrated with its parent and benefits from BNPP's expertise and resources. BNPP effectively controls its strategy and day-to-day management. BMCI 's ambition is to be recognised as one of Morocco's leading banks, offering high-quality services, targeting the upper-end of the market and building on its membership with the BNPP group.

Eqdom 's capital is 35%-owned by Societe Generale Financial Services Holding and 19%-owned by SGMB which in turn is 53%-controlled by SG. Fitch believes that SG may provide support for Eqdom , if required. However, given that SG is not a direct majority shareholder, Fitch views the probability of such support as moderate.

Eqdom is the second-largest consumer finance company in Morocco with an estimated 25% market share. SG has strong control and involvement in the company. Besides personal loans, which remain its primary business (77% of total loans at end-H107), Eqdom also offers equipment and car financing loans.

SGMB and CM 's Support ratings of '2' reflect Fitch's view that there is an extremely high probability that support from each of their main shareholders would be forthcoming. CM is 52.6%-owned by Credit Agricole S.A. (rated 'AA'/'F1+'/Outlook Stable). However, the probability of such support is only high due to Morocco's sovereign Country Ceiling.

SGMB is Morocco's fifth-largest bank with around 7% and 9% market shares of deposits and loans, respectively.

CM is Morocco's sixth-largest bank, with around 5% and 6% market shares of deposits and loans, respectively.

Updated research reports on BMCI , Eqdom , SGM and CM are available on the agency's subscription website, www.fitchresearch.com under Financial Institutions/Banks/Summary Pages.

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Note to Editors:
Fitch's National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as 'AAA(mar)' for National ratings in Morocco. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.

For more information, please contact:
Sophie Martin-Glinel
Paris
Tel: + 33 1 44 29 92 72

Sonia Trabelsi
Tunis
Tel: +216 71 840 902

Hannah Warrington
London
Tel: +44 (0) 207 417 6298

© Fitch Ratings 2007