The Russian banks affected by the rating action include Sberbank, Rosbank, Gazprombank and Russian Agriculture Bank. Other entities in the Fitch firing line include HSBC's Russian arm — HSBC Bank (RR) — Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian branches of Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
"The withdrawals are for sanction-related reasons," the rating agency said. It did not disclose the conditions that the lenders would have to meet for it to reverse the decision.
Fitch also withdrew the ratings of four Russian non-banking financial entities, one affiliate and one financing special purpose vehicle on Tuesday as it sought to comply with the European sanctions. These include Russian ship leasing company JSC GTLK, credit institution Central Counterparty National Clearing Centre, RESO-Leasing LLC — a car leasing business — and Aton Financial Holding, an investment adviser.
Non-banking financial institutions do not have a full banking license and cannot accept deposits from the public, according to The World Bank.
Fitch's commercial operations have been suspended in Russia since early March. The ratings agency has warned of an "imminent" default by the Russian government on its external debt after Western sanctions cut the country off from global financial markets.
Fitch and other major credit agencies, including Moody's and S&P, have already downgraded Russian sovereign debt to junk status after the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Russian authorities responded in March by enforcing new capital controls to shield the country from the risk of default. The government has also frozen the status of domestic credit ratings for the country's banks for five months to ensure financial stability.
Ratings agencies give rankings independently to a country or business to reflect its creditworthiness and help investors make financial decisions. Ratings are withdrawn at the request of the entity being assessed or at the rating agency's own discretion.
The EU had imposed a ban on assigning credit ratings to legal persons, entities, or bodies established in Russia on March 15, giving a deadline of one month to rating issuers to comply.
--Editing by Ed Harris.
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