Icra rates first Basel III tier-I bonds from YES Bank

Domestic rating agency Icra on Monday gave a stable outlook to the Basel III-compliant Rs 300 crore Tier-I bond issuance by YES Bank, making it the first such instrument from the country.

YES Bank is the first domestic bank to issue a capital instrument that is compliant with the Basel-III capital norms, which has been assigned an A (Hyb) rating by Icra, the agency said. Though many banks have raised money through Basel-III-compliant Tier-II bonds, YES Bank is the first to issue Tier-I bonds meeting the stringent Basel-III norms.

Last month, state-run Union Bank of India had raised additional capital to the extent of Rs 2,000 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant Tier-II bonds. In September, Bank of India had also mopped up Rs 1000 crore by issuing Basel-III-complaint Tier-ll bonds to LIC with a one-year maturity.