Il problema e' se questi pirati celtici faranno casini. La societa' e' sana. Ma ormai chi si fida piu' di questi?
- On April 5, 2011, we revised the CreditWatch implications for Irish Life Assurance PLC (ILA) to developing from negative following the announcement of the planned separation of ILA from its bank parent, Irish Life & Permanent PLC (IL&P).
- Recent public statements have indicated that the Irish government plans to acquire ILA from IL&P before the end of June 2012.
- We are keeping the 'BBB-' ratings on ILA on CreditWatch developing, reflecting the anticipated sale to the Irish government.
LONDON (Standard & Poor's) March 6, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it maintained its 'BBB-' long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Irish insurer Irish Life Assurance PLC (ILA) on CreditWatch with developing implications.
The 'BB' rating on the €200 million junior subordinated notes also remains on CreditWatch developing. We originally placed the ratings on ILA on CreditWatch with negative implications on Nov. 26, 2010. We lowered the ratings to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' on Feb. 2, 2011, and kept them on CreditWatch negative. The CreditWatch was revised to developing on April 5, 2011.Early in 2011, the Irish bank stress tests indicated that ILA's banking parent, Irish Life & Permanent PLC (IL&P; BB-/Watch Neg/B), required €4 billion in additional capital. IL&P therefore announced on March 31, 2011, its plan to sell ILA. We understand that IL&P is working toward a clean separation of the insurance company from the bank. Recent public statements from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the Irish government indicate that the Irish government plans to acquire ILA from IL&P by end-June 2012. If this were to occur, we believe it would significantly reduce ILA's risks and exposures that relate to its weaker banking parent. The 'BBB-' long-term rating on ILA is two notches below its 'bbb+' stand-alone credit profile, reflecting our view of residual risks that stem from IL&P.The CreditWatch placement reflects our view of ongoing uncertainties over the future ownership of ILA. We expect to be able to resolve the CreditWatch as greater certainty over the future ownership of ILA emerges. This could occur on completion by the government of the legal process to acquire ILA from IL&P, which is currently scheduled for the end of March. If this occurs according to schedule, we would expect to resolve the CreditWatch in early April, even though we do not expect the capital injection to occur until end-June 2012.If the government acquires ILA, we would likely raise the ratings on ILA to 'BBB+'. An upgrade to 'BBB+' would also depend on our assessment of ILA's financial profile at that time and the overall business environment remaining unchanged. The ratings and outlook on ILA would be constrained by the rating and outlook on the Irish sovereign (Republic of Ireland; BBB+/Negative/A-2).We could lower the ratings on ILA if the sale to the government does not complete as expected. In this case a downgrade may occur as a result of a downgrade of its parent or through the application of our financial institutions group rating methodology. Our criteria state that insulated subsidiaries can be rated up to three notches above the group credit profile if certain characteristics are met (see
"Group Rating Methodology And Assumptions," Nov. 9, 2011, paragraphs 56-61).