During the last quarter of 2019, and in keeping with our Group’s overall strategic objective, The Belize Bank Limited approached the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) to conduct a review of its operations with the ultimate goal of assigning a Credit Rating to the organization.
On December 12th, CariCRIS assigned the following, “Investment Grade” rating to the bank.
The rating of The Belize Bank Limited reflects its strong presence in the Belizean commercial banking industry, its robust risk management framework and strong asset quality. The Bank’s deposit base, which underpins its stable funding cost and liquidity along with its comfortable capitalization, also supported the rating.
The rating of The Belize Bank Limited is significant from several perspectives. It is the first for a Belizean organization by a regional or international rating agency and therefore bodes well for other aspiring Belizean companies hoping to improve their profile on the regional and international market. The “Investment Grade” rating assigned to the Bank is also consistent with some of the more prominent and larger regional banks across the Caribbean and therefore provides a platform to attract talent from the wider region as well as to assist in capital raising initiatives going forward.
The Board of Directors and Management of The Belize Bank Limited takes this opportunity to commend the staff of the organization for their excellent work over the past years which has contributed significantly to the assignment of this rating.
Mr. Lyndon Guiseppi, Executive Chairman of The Belize Bank Limited stated that “he was extremely pleased with the rating which represented a major milestone in the Group’s aspiration in creating a Pan-Caribbean banking franchise and will invariably facilitate the organization’s ability to access the regional capital markets in the future.”
Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) is the Caribbean’s leading credit rating agency, with shareholding by regional Central Banks, several major regional commercial banks, and CRISIL, an associate company of the globally-recognized rating agency Standard & Poor’s. Their credit ratings represent an objective assessment of the Bank’s creditworthiness relative to other rated entities in the region and reflect their intimate understanding of the risks that are unique to the Caribbean.
