s&p raises bankwest ratings on cba merger

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has raised its ratings on BankWest after the federal government approved its acquisition by Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA).

The ratings agency said it believed CBA was well placed to deal with the challenges of integrating BankWest into its business.

S&P said it had equalised BankWest's ratings with CBA's because it believed the bank would be a core subsidiary.

"Standard & Poor's expects BankWest to be operationally integrated with CBA in terms of funding, risk management, system, and processes," S&P said.

The agency added that "moreover, BankWest will be a material part of the CBA group, representing more than 10% of total group capital."

S&P raised BankWest's ratings from "A+/A-1" to "AA/A-1+", with a stable outlook, and removed them from CreditWatch with positive implications.