Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A1 rating to the senior unsecured notes to be issued by Union National Bank (UNB) under an EMTN programme of USD1.5 billion.
Moody's explains that the A1 senior debt rating is at the same level as the A1 foreign currency deposit rating already assigned to UNB. In assigning this rating, Moody's has considered the bank's relative importance in the domestic financial system (with a 7.4% customer deposit market share), its intrinsic financial strength given its D+ financial strength rating, and its 50% ownership by the government of Abu Dhabi, by far the wealthiest of the seven emirates that form the UAE. The bank is owned 40% by the Finance Department of the Abu Dhabi government, while another 10% of equity is held by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. At the same time, the Dubai government owns another 10% stake in UNB, while the remaining 40% is held by the general public.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Union National Bank had end-2004 total assets of AED24.1 billion (approximately USD6.6 billion).
