Rating actions triggered by current reassessment of systemic support indicator

Paris, July 23, 2009 -- Moody's Investors Service has today placed the local and foreign currency deposit ratings of four Tunisian banks on review for possible downgrade in light of its global review of systemic support indicators and stress testing for the banking systems. Bank financial strength ratings (BFSRs) of affected Tunisian banks remain unchanged. The full list of affected ratings can be found below.

Moody's previously used the local currency deposit ceiling (LCDC) as the main input for its assessment of the ability of a national government to support its banks. Although anchoring the probability of support at the LCDC is appropriate in many circumstances -- regarding the provision of liquidity to a selected number of institutions over a short period of time -- this might overestimate the capacity of a central bank to support financial institutions in the event of a banking crisis becoming both truly systemic and protracted. This approach is outlined in the Special Comment entitled "Financial Crisis More Closely Aligns Bank Credit Risk and Government Ratings in Non-Aaa Countries", which was published in May 2009.

The review of the local currency deposit ratings will look at the extentto which Tunisia's ability to provide support to its banking system, if needed, is converging with the government's own debt capacity as a result of the ongoing global economic and credit crisis. Moody's will refine its assessment of systemic support available from the Tunisian government to capture the impact of the erosion of the local economy's underlying credit fundamentals and the reduced fiscal policy flexibility on the government's ability to support the banking sector.

Factors that Moody's will consider in its assessment of systemic support include the size of the banking system in relation to governmentresources, the level of stress in the banking system, the foreign currency obligations of the banking system relative to the government's own foreign exchange resources and changes to the government's political patterns.

The local and foreign currency deposit ratings of Arab Tunisian Bank are unaffected by these rating actions. They remain unchanged at Baa2/P-2 given that the bank benefits from an additional source of support parental support from its majority shareholder Arab Bank PLC, which counterbalances any impact stemming from a change in systemic indicators.

The following rating actions were taken:

(i) Amen Bank's Baa2/P-2 global local currency (GLC) and foreign currency (FC) deposit ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The bank's D- BFSR (mapping to a Ba3 baseline credit assessment -- BCA) remains unchanged with a stable outlook.

(ii) Banque de Tunisie's Baa1/P-2 GLC deposit rating and Baa2/P-2 FC deposit rating were placed on review for possible downgrade. The bank's D+ BFSR (mapping to a BCA of Ba1) remains unchanged with a stable outlook.

(iii) Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie's Baa1/P-2 GLC deposit rating and Baa2/P-2 FC deposit rating were placed on review for possible downgrade. The bank's D BFSR (mapping to a BCA of Ba2) remains unchanged with a stable outlook.

(iv) Societe Tunisienne de Banque's Baa2/P-2 GLC and FC deposit ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The bank's E+ BFSR (mapping to a BCA of B2) remains unchanged with a stable outlook.

PREVIOUS RATING ACTIONS & PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES

The last rating action on Amen Bank was taken on 24 April 2007 when its BFSR was raised to D- from E+. The GLC deposit ratings were assigned at Baa2/P-2. The FC deposit ratings remained unchanged at Baa2/P-2.

The last rating action on Banque de Tunisie was taken on 24 April 2007 when the bank was assigned new Baa1/P-2 GLC deposit ratings. The FC deposit ratings and BFSR remained unchanged at Baa2/P-2 and D+.

The last rating action on Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie was taken on 24 April 2007 when the bank's GLC deposit ratings were changed to Baa1/P-2 from A3/P-2. The FC deposit ratings and BFSR remained unchanged at Baa2/P-2 and D.

The last rating action on Societe Tunisienne de Banque was taken on 24 April 2007 when the bank was assigned new Baa2/P-2 GLC deposit ratings.

The FC deposit ratings and BFSR remained unchanged at Baa2/P-2 and E+.

The principal methodologies used in rating these issuers are "Bank Financial Strength Ratings: Global Methodology", and "Incorporation of Joint-Default Analysis into Moody's Bank Ratings: A Refined Methodology".

These can be found at www.moodys.com in the Credit Policy & Methodologies directory, in the Ratings Methodologies sub-directory. Other methodologies and factors that may have been considered in the process of rating these issuers can also be found in the Credit Policy & Methodologies directory.

Amen Bank, headquartered in Tunis, had assets of TND2.8 billion (US$2.2 billion) as of 31 December 2008.

Banque de Tunisie, headquartered in Tunis, had assets of TND2.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) as of 31 December 2008.

Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie, headquartered in Tunis, had assets of TND5.6 billion (US$4.2 billion) as of 31 December 2008.

Societe Tunisienne de Banque, headquartered in Tunis, had assets of TND5.1 billion (US$4.1 billion) as of 31 December 2008.

-Ends-

Limassol
Mardig Haladjian
General Manager
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Limited
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454

Paris
Anouar Hassoune
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's France S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454

© Press Release 2009