Spanish promotional bank ICO mandates Scope Ratings

Carlos Romera Cano, Director, Scope Group, Madrid, said: “The rating mandate from the Instituto de Crédito Oficial is a milestone for the development of Scope in Spain. ICO is one of top three public sector issuers alongside the Spanish Treasury and the Community of Madrid, which are also users of Scope's ratings.”  

Florian Stapf, Managing Director and Head of Fundamental Ratings Sales, said: “We are delighted that the Instituto de Crédito Oficial has chosen Scope Ratings to provide an independent view on the development bank’s credit risk. ICO joins a growing list of European national promotional banks rated by Scope. This mandate underlines Scope’s increasing relevance for investors and issuers as they recognise the value of our distinctive analytical approach as the European rating agency.”

Scope rates ICO at A with a Stable Outlook. Read the full rating report here.

On Instituto de Crédito Oficial: ICO is Spain’s state-owned promotional bank and financial agency whose main role is to promote economic development by providing financing for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and infrastructure projects. As one of the most active Spanish institutions on debt capital markets, ICO raised around EUR 8bn in 2024 through medium- and long-term benchmark euro-denominated bonds in addition to social and green bonds.  

On Scope’s government-related entities (GRE) rating coverage and methodology: Scope rates a broad range of European GRE issuers, including Cassa Depositi et Prestiti, CADES, KfW, L-Bank, LfA Förderbank Bayern, MFB Hungarian Development Bank and Rentenbank. Scope uses a qualitative segmentation approach to account for the diverse entities, jurisdictions, and relationships between GREs and their public sponsors. To access Scope’s GRE methodology, please follow this link.

More news on Scope Group:

• ECB completes onboarding of Scope’s ratings (Dec 2024)
• The Community of Madrid to mandate Scope Ratings (Dec 2024)
• Crédit Agricole group becomes Scope's newest shareholder (Sep 2024)
• France’s CADES mandates Scope; public-sector rating coverage grows to more than 100 issuers (July 2024)
• German Bundesländer mandate Scope Ratings (April 2024)
• ECB accepts Scope in its credit assessment framework ECAF (Nov 2023)