Fitch Assigns Ratings to Merrill Merchant Bank.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch assigned ratings to Merrill Merchant Bank (Merrill), reflecting the ownership of Chittenden Corporation (CHZ CHZ Circumstellar Habitable Zone ). Fitch placed CHZ's ratings on Rating Watch Negative on June 27, 2007, upon the announcement of CHZ's acquisition by Peoples United Financial, Inc. ('BBB', Positive Outlook). Fitch believes the ratings of the combined People's and Chittenden franchise will likely be rated below CHZ's current 'A-' rating, given People's larger relative size. CHZ is a multi-bank holding company headquartered in Vermont, with operations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). and Connecticut. The ratings of CHZ and its subsidiaries are derived from its strong New England franchise, conservative management, strong asset quality and solid liquidity and capital levels. In June 2007, People's announced it had reached a definitive agreement to purchase CHZ in a deal valued at approximately $1.9 billion. The purchase is dependent upon normal regulatory and shareholder approvals and is expected to close during 1Q08. Fitch has assigned the following ratings: Merrill Merchant Bank --Long Term Issuer Default (IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ) 'A-'; --Long Term Deposits 'A'; --Short Term IDR 'F2'; --Short Term Deposits 'F1'; --Individual 'B'; --Support '5'; --Rating Floor 'NF'. The ratings are on Rating Watch Negative. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. 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 Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion