ICRA Nepal has reaffirmed the issuer rating of AAA to Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited (SCBNL) for the fourth consecutive year. 

The rating is considered to have the highest degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. 

Such issuers carry the lowest credit risk. In the rationale statement, ICRA Nepal states, “The rating reaffirmation factors in the bank’s strong capitalisation profile with adequate cushion against the minimum regulatory requirement and its robust asset quality profile with comfortable non-performing loans (NPLs)/delinquencies, despite the sharp build up in asset quality stress across the Nepalese banking industry.” 

The bank reported a capital to risk weighted assets ratio of 14.91 percent and tier-I of 13.38 percent as of mid-Jan 2023, remaining well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 11 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.