This is an excellent long-term rating for each individual institution within the FinanzVerbund. FitchRatings gave a "B" for the individual rating.This rating is based on the proven structure of the FinanzVerbund, especially its broad anchoring within German society where it has 15.6 million members who hold shares worth 9.1 billion euros in approximately 1,300 credit cooperatives. Dr. Christopher Pleister, president of the BVR noted "This rating, which is excellent in comparison to ratings received by other German institutions, documents the vitality and stability of the cooperative banking group’s business model.” In issuing this rating, FitchRatings recognized the FinanzVerbund as a unified group which allowed its primary cooperative units to operate autonomously. Pleister further stated that all cooperative credit institutions benefit from the FinanzVerbund’s rating. Every member bank within the BVR can utilise its certified creditworthiness in its daily business activities. The Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken will have to decide for themselves if they wish to use the ratings or not. All cooperative banks benefit because the rating serves as an individual seal of quality that will improve their securities standing in the capital markets, eliminate the need for individual ratings, and provide the central banks with refinancing advantages.As a reason for the outstanding rating, FitchRatings noted the close relationships within the FinanzVerbund, the strong safety measures that are in place, the Verbund’s profitability, the comfortable equity capital situation, and the good quality of the loan portfolio. FitchRatings views the long-term overall situation as stable.
