KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): Moody's Investors Service today assigned long-term foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating of A3 to Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) CNY500 million fixed rate notes, issued under the bank's US$15 billion multicurrency medium term note (MTN) programme.

The CNY500 million notes will mature in November 2020.

In a statement today, the rating agency said the outlook on the A3 debt rating is stable, in line with the stable outlook on Maybank's ratings.

"The A3 rating assigned to the CNY notes is in line with Maybank's A3 foreign currency bank deposit rating, and the (P)A3 foreign currency debt rating assigned to the MTN programme," the statement added.

Moody's said an upgrade of Malaysia's A3 sovereign rating would likely lead to an upgrade of Maybank's A3 foreign currency deposit and senior debt ratings, assuming the bank's standalone credit metrics remain robust.

However, Maybank's long-term credit ratings could be lowered if the bank's standalone credit profile weakens significantly, resulting in a multi-notch downgrade of its baseline credit assessment, Moody's added.

At 3.16pm, Maybank shares were up 4 sen or 0.43% at RM9.24 today, with 4.02 million shares done, giving it a market capitalisation of RM97.89 billion.