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Standard & Poor's Takes A Number Of Rating Actions On UAE-Based Entities

As part of a review by Standard & Poor's of Abu Dhabi-based government-related entities (GREs), we have placed the four Abu Dhabi-based GREs that we rate on CreditWatch with negative implications, subject to further discussions with the entities and the government of

Abu Dhabi.

Separately, we have lowered the ratings on three Dubai-based GREs that we rate. The ratings on DP World Ltd., Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority, and Emaar Properties PJSC were all lowered by one notch. The ratings on Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority are on CreditWatch negative, and the outlook on Emaar Properties and DP World is negative.

We were unable to resolve the CreditWatch placements on DIFC Investments LLC and JAFZ Sukuk Ltd. due to insufficient information, and these two entities remain on CreditWatch negative.

The ratings on the notes issued by Thor Asset Purchase (Cayman) Ltd. were affirmed at 'BB+'.

We have also revised the stand-alone credit profiles and our view of the degree of government support factored into our UAE bank ratings, leading to a one-notch upgrade of Mashreqbank . The ratings on Dubai Islamic Bank , Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank , Sharjah Islamic Bank , and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi were affirmed. The ratings on Masreqbank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank , and Dubai Islamic Bank were removed from CreditWatch negative.
DUBAI, April 7, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it had taken a number of rating actions on entities based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE):

We placed the ratings on four Abu Dhabi-based government-related entities (GREs)-- Tourism Development and Investment Company P.J.S.C. ( TDIC ), Mubadala Development Co. PJSC, International Petroleum Investment Company ( IPIC ), and Aldar Properties PJSC--on CreditWatch with negative implications.

We have lowered by one notch the ratings on DP World Ltd., Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC), and Emaar Properties PJSC, which have been on CreditWatch negative since Dec. 2, 2009. The new ratings on Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority are on CreditWatch negative, while the outlook on Emaar Properties and DP World is negative. The ratings on DIFC Investments LLC and JAFZ Sukuk Ltd. remain on Creditwatch with negative implications.

We have updated our view on the stand-alone credit profiles (SACP) and extent of government support factored into the ratings on UAE banks. We raised the number of notches added to the SACP of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ( ADCB ) and Dubai-based Mashreqbank to three and two, respectively. This led to a one-notch upgrade of Mashreqbank and a ratings affirmation for ADCB . The ratings on both banks were removed from CreditWatch negative, and the outlook on these two entities is negative.

We have affirmed the ratings on National Bank of Abu Dhabi ( NBAD ), Sharjah Islamic Bank ( SIB ), and Dubai Islamic Bank ( DIB ). The ratings on DIB were removed from CreditWatch negative and placed on negative outlook, while the outlooks on SIB and NBAD are stable.

The ratings on the notes issued by Thor Asset Purchase (Cayman) Ltd. were affirmed at 'BB+'.

See Ratings List below for all entities affected.

The placement of the four Abu Dhabi-based GREs on CreditWatch negative reflects our reconsideration of our current practice--which under our GRE criteria is to equalize the ratings on these GREs with those on the Abu Dhabi sovereign--given that part of these entities' activities are of a commercial, rather than an exclusively policy-based, nature (see Related Research below).

The focus of our review will be on revisiting the extent of credit support gained by these entities' roles and links with the government of Abu Dhabi. We will also revisit our view on the SACPs of each entity, as we expect these are likely to become more important drivers of the ratings going forward. We expect to resolve the CreditWatch placements following further discussion with the entities and the government of Abu Dhabi on these matters. We anticipate that downgrades of between one and two notches may occur on these four entities within a month.

The one notch downgrades of DP World , DMCC, and Emaar reflect our view of the SACP of these entities, and the fact that we do not incorporate into the ratings on these entities any expectation of extraordinary support from the government of Dubai. We have removed these entities from CreditWatch negative, where they were placed on Dec. 2, 2009.

We do not believe we have adequate visibility on the SACPs for DIFC and JAFZ to warrant taking them off CreditWatch. We expect to resolve these two CreditWatch placements shortly, and will consider whether we have, or expect to receive, sufficient timely information to continue surveillance, or whether it would be more appropriate to suspend or withdraw the ratings. We will publish further information on each of the Dubai-based entities shortly.

As part of today's rating actions, we lowered the SACP of ADCB by one notch and simultaneously raised to three notches from two notches the uplift we factor in to the long-term rating on ADCB . As a result, we affirmed our 'A/A-1' long- and short-term ratings on ADCB and removed them from CreditWatch negative, where they were placed on Nov. 30, 2009. The outlook is negative, reflecting our view of the ongoing pressure on ADCB 's asset quality and capitalization. At the same time, we affirmed our 'A+/A-1' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on NBAD . The outlook is stable.

In Dubai, we removed the ratings on Mashreqbank and DIB from CreditWatch negative, where they were placed on Nov. 26, 2009. We raised to two notches from one notch the uplift we factor in to the long-term rating on Mashreqbank , which led to the raising of the long-term counterparty credit ratings on the bank to 'BBB+'. We affirmed our 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings on the bank. At the same time, we affirmed the 'BBB-/A-3' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on DIB . The outlook on Mashreqbank and DIB is negative, due to the pressure on these banks' financial profile from what we view as a difficult operating environment. At the same time, we affirmed the 'BBB/A-2' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on SIB . The outlook on SIB is stable.

We continue to expect extraordinary support to be available from the UAE authorities in cases of need for Mashreqbank , DIB , SIB , ADCB , and NBAD , given their systemic importance (defined as "high" for these banks and "moderate" for SIB ). In our view, the government's attitude vis-à-vis these banks likely reflects their unique function in the financing of the economy. However, our view of the different capacity of each emirate to extend extraordinary support to banks in their territory results in different levels of support being factored in the ratings. Standard & Poor's believes that the UAE authorities have a strong incentive, as well as willingness and capacity, to preserve the stability of their banking sector. In our view, the UAE government has a strong track record of support toward the banking system, and we note that it has taken several measures to boost liquidity in the recent past. However, we believe banks in Dubai and Sharjah are more reliant on the central bank of the UAE, which regulates banks in all of the emirates, whereas banks based in Abu Dhabi enjoy the strong backing of the financially stronger emirate.

RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCH

• Enhanced Methodology And Assumptions For Rating Government-Related Entities, June 29, 2009

• Use Of CreditWatch And Outlooks, Sept. 14, 2009

RATINGS LIST

To From

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ( ADCB )
Issuer credit rating
A/Negative/A-1 A/Watch Neg/A-1

Aldar Properties PJSC
Issuer credit rating
A-/Watch Neg/A-2 A-/Stable/A-2

DIFC Investments LLC
Issuer credit rating
B+/Watch Neg/B B+/Watch Neg/B

DP World Ltd.
Issuer credit rating
BB/Negative/B BB+/Watch Neg/B

Dubai Islamic Bank ( DIB )
Issuer credit rating
BBB-/Negative/A-3 BBB-/Watch Neg/A-3

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC)
Issuer credit rating
B/Watch Neg/B B+/Watch Neg/B

Emaar Properties PJSC
Issuer credit rating
BB/Negative/-- BB+/Watch Neg/--

International Petroleum Investment Company ( IPIC )
Issuer credit rating
AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ AA/Stable/A-1+

JAFZ Sukuk Ltd.
Issuer credit rating
B+/Watch Neg/B B+/Watch Neg/B

Mashreqbank
Issuer credit rating
BBB+/Negative/A-2 BBB/Watch Neg/A-2

Mubadala Development Co. PJSC
Issuer credit rating
AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ AA/Stable/A-1+

National Bank of Abu Dhabi ( NBAD )
Issuer credit rating
A+/Stable/A-1 A+/Stable/A-1

Sharjah Islamic Bank ( SIB )
Issuer credit rating
BBB/Stable/A-2 BBB/Stable/A-2

Thor Asset Purchase (Cayman) Ltd. (senior secured rating)
Senior secured debt*
BB+ BB+

Tourism Development and Investment Company P.J.S.C.
Issuer credit rating
AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ AA/Stable/A-1+

*Support by Emirate of Dubai and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority.

N.B.--This does not include all ratings affected.

Complete ratings information is available to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal subscribers at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at
www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left column. Alternatively, call one of the following Standard & Poor's numbers: Client Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office (44) 20-7176-3605; Paris (33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; Stockholm (46) 8-440-5914; or Moscow (7) 495-783-4011.

-Ends-

About Standard & Poor's in the GCC
Standard & Poor's is a leading provider of financial market intelligence to customers in the Gulf's credit risk management, wealth management, and data and information markets. Since entering the region in the late 1980's, Standard & Poor's currently has public ratings on approximately 100 issuers. In equity markets, Shariah-compliant versions of Standard & Poor's global and regional equity market indices - S&P 500, S&P Europe 350, S&P Japan 500 and S&P/IFCI GCC - have created new opportunities for Islamic investors to benchmark their international investments and for asset managers to create new investment products serving the Islamic community. Standard & Poor's Fund Services launched a qualitative fund management rating service for regional asset managers in 2007 assigning 17 Fund Management Ratings. For further details on Standard & Poor's regional capabilities please visit www.gcc.standardandpoors.com

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© Press Release 2010