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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-' (AA minus)/'F1+'/Outlook Stable), respectively.

BMCI is 64%-owned by BNPP and strongly integrated with its parent. Fitch believes there is an extremely high probability that BNPP would support BMCI if needed. However, the probability of such support is capped by Morocco's sovereign Country Ceiling 'BBB'.

BMCI is the fourth-largest bank in Morocco, with around 9% and 11% market shares of deposits and loans, respectively. BMCI benefits from BNPP's expertise and resources. BNPP effectively controls its strategy and day-to-day management. Exploiting its membership of the BNPP group, BMCI aims to be recognised as one of Morocco's leading banks with high-quality services to medium- and high-end clients.

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 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 27.5% market share. SG has strong control and involvement in the company. Besides personal loans to civil servants, which remain its primary business (49% of total loans at end-2007), Eqdom aims to diversify towards the upper end of the market through a larger branch network and a wider range of products, including car financing, car leasing with a purchase option, insurance services, consumer credit partnerships and revolving credit.

SGMB 's and CM 's Support ratings of '2' reflect Fitch's view that each of their main shareholders has a strong propensity and capacity to support its subsidiary, if needed. SGMB is 53%-owned by SG and is closely integrated with its parent. Similarly, CM is 52.6%-owned by Credit Agricole S.A. (CASA, rated 'AA'/Outlook Stable/'F1+') which has seconded key senior managers. Fitch believes there is an extremely high probability of support from SG and CASA to SGMB and CM , respectively, in case of need. However, the probability of such support is capped by Morocco's Country Ceiling.

SGMB is Morocco's fifth-largest bank with around 8% and 11% market shares of deposits and loans, respectively. CM is Morocco's sixth-largest bank, with around 7% market shares of deposits and loans.

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

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About Company:
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.

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.

For more information, please contact:
Sophie Martin-Glinel
Paris
Tel: + 44 207 682 7657

Sonia Trabelsi
Tunis
Tel: +216 71 840 902

Francoise Alos
Paris
Tel: +33 1 44 29 91 22

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

© Press Release 2008