Fitch Affirms Bank of Hawaii Corp. IDR at 'A-'.

CHICAGO -- Fitch Ratings has affirmed the long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Bank of Hawaii Corporation and its bank subsidiary, Bank of Hawaii at 'A-'. At the same time, Fitch upgrades the short-term rating of BOH to 'F1' from 'F2' (see complete list of ratings below). The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The affirmation of BOH's ratings reflects the strength of the company's local Hawaii franchise, which has translated into strong and stable financial performance. Furthermore, the company has maintained sound balance sheet fundamentals including solid asset quality. The ratings also take into account that the company remains geographically concentrated in Hawaii and that the loan book still contains some higher risk elements.

BOH's capital and reserve positions are viewed as sound. Although capital and reserve levels have trended lower, the decline was commensurate with an improvement in the company's risk profile. Nonetheless, given its geographic concentration and the remaining higher risk elements in the portfolio, Fitch expects BOH to maintain relatively strong capital and reserve positions.

The upgrade of the short-term rating of the parent company considered the liquidity position of the parent, as well as greater capacity to upstream dividends to the parent without prior regulatory approval, and the company's good equity generation capabilities. At one time, BOH needed regulatory approval to upstream any dividends. However, BOH can now upstream dividends equal to current period earnings and the prior two years retained earnings without regulatory approval.

Fitch upgrades the following, with a Stable Outlook:

Bank of Hawaii Corporation

--Short-term to 'F1' from 'F2'

Fitch affirms the following, with Stable Outlook:

Bank of Hawaii Corporation

--Long-term IDR 'A-';

--Individual 'B';

--Support '5'.

Bank of Hawaii

--Long-term IDR 'A-';

--Subordinated debt 'BBB+';

--Short-term 'F1';

--Long-term deposits 'A';

--Short-term deposits 'F1';

--Individual 'B';

--Support '5'.

Bancorp Hawaii Capital Trust I

--Preferred securities 'BBB+'.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.