The credit rating of JSC “MB BANK” (hereinafter, MB Bank, or the Bank) is based on its limited business profile, strong capital adequacy assessment, adequate risk profile, as well as the adequate funding and liquidity position.
MB Bank is a medium-sized Russian credit institution in terms of capital and is the subsidiary of a foreign bank. Its main areas of activity are providing a range of services that generate a significant volume of commission income, comprehensive servicing of export-import companies, as well as placing funds in the interbank market.
KEY ASSESSMENT FACTORS
The limited business profile (bb) stems from the Bank’s position in the Russian banking sector (it is among the 80 largest banks in terms of capital). Diversification of operating income is assessed as low in view of the nature of operations (the Herfindahl-Hirschman index was 0.45 at the end of 2024). MB Bank’s corporate governance system in general corresponds to the scale of its business. The macroeconomic conditions factored into the strategy are assessed as adequate.
The strong capital position is confirmed primarily by the Bank consistently maintaining capital adequacy ratios at a high level (including N1.2, which was 23% as of June 1, 2025 and averaged 18.6% over the past 12 months), which enables the Bank to retain its ability to absorb risks of much higher than 500 bps over the next 12 to 18 months. In addition, the averaged capital generation ratio (ACGR) calculated by ACRA for the past five years is high (over 200 bps) due to the generation of profit and absence of dividend payments in previous periods. At the same time, according to the Bank, the 2024 dividends were paid in 2025, however, the Bank will be recapitalized for a comparable amount this autumn. The operational efficiency of MB Bank is generally in line with the average level for the group of peer banks — over the past three years, the CTI (cost-to-income ratio) was around 34%, while the NIM (net interest margin) was 4.7%.
The adequate risk profile stems from the primarily high credit quality of funds placed in commercial banks (around 56% of assets at the end of 2024), as well as in the Bank of Russia (around 35% of assets). At the same time, the share of the loan portfolio accounts for about 5.5% of assets. MB Bank does not have any investments in securities or non-core assets.
The adequate funding and liquidity position reflects the sufficient coverage of potential outflows with high-liquid assets. There are no liquidity gaps. The resource base of MB Bank is largely concentrated on interbank liabilities (75% of liabilities). In ACRA’s opinion, these risks are practically already accounted for in the assessment of concentration on the funds of the largest groups of creditors (the share of the largest group is 26%, while the ten largest groups account for 74%), and therefore the Agency has not lowered its assessment of the funding sub-factor in this area.
The neutral assessment of support is based on the results of a comparative assessment of the creditworthiness of MB Bank and the parent company.
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
-
The Bank maintaining its business model over the next 12 to 18 months.
-
Capital adequacy (N1.2) above 9% over the next 12 to 18 months.
POTENTIAL OUTLOOK OR RATING CHANGE FACTORS
The Stable outlook assumes that the rating will highly likely stay unchanged within the 12 to 18-month horizon.
A positive rating action may be prompted by:
-
Considerable strengthening of the Bank’s competitive positions in the banking services market;
-
A more universal nature of business;
-
Considerable decline of concentration on the largest groups of creditors and dependence on the largest source of the resource base;
-
Higher creditworthiness of the parent company.
A negative rating action may be prompted by:
-
Lower capital adequacy and/or operational efficiency;
-
Deterioration of asset quality;
-
Deterioration of the liquidity position.
RATING COMPONENTS
Standalone creditworthiness assessment (SCA): bbb.
Adjustments: none.
Support: not applied because MB Bank’s SCA is higher than the creditworthiness assessment of the parent company.
ISSUE RATINGS
There are no outstanding issues.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURE
The credit rating has been assigned under the national scale for the Russian Federation based on the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Banks and Bank Groups under the National Scale for the Russian Federation, Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings with External Support, and the Key Concepts Used by the Analytical Credit Rating Agency within the Scope of Its Rating Activities.
The credit rating of JSC “MB BANK” was published by ACRA for the first time on August 19, 2024. The credit rating and its outlook are expected to be revised within one year following the publication date of this press release.
The creditworthiness assessment of the parent company was determined based on the principles of the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Banks and Banking Groups under the International Scale, Methodology for Mapping Credit Ratings Assigned under ACRA’s International Scale to Credit Ratings Assigned under ACRA’s National Scales, and the Methodology for Credit Rating Assignment to Sovereign Entities under the International Scale.
The credit rating was assigned based on data provided by JSC “MB BANK”, information from publicly available sources, and ACRA’s own databases. The rating analysis was performed using the IFRS financial statements of JSC “MB BANK” and the financial statements of JSC “MB BANK” drawn up in compliance with the requirements of the Bank of Russia. The credit rating is solicited and JSC “MB BANK” participated in its assignment.
In assigning the credit rating, ACRA used only information, the quality and reliability of which were, in ACRA’s opinion, appropriate and sufficient to apply the methodologies.
ACRA provided no additional services to JSC “MB BANK”. No conflicts of interest were discovered in the course of credit rating assignment.
