Moody's has upgraded from "Ba3" to "Ba1" long-term ratings of deposits in foreign currency of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan OJSC, KAZKOMMERTSBANK OJSC, Bank TuranAlem OJSC and AMB OJSC

/IRBIS, November 11, 02/ - As follows from the message, which was published on pages of official representatives in the Internet of international rating agency Moody's Investors Service, on November 8 of 2002 Moody's upgraded from "Ba3" to "Ba1" long-term ratings of deposits of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan OJSC (Almaty), KAZKOMMERTSBANK OJSC (Almaty), Bank TuranAlem OJSC (Almaty) and AMB OJSC (Almaty). Besides, Moody's Investors Service has upgraded from "Ba2" to "Baa3" ratings of senior unsecured debt, which was issued as euronotes of Kazkommerts International B.V. and TuranAlem Finance B.V. on full guarantee of KAZKOMMETSBANK OJSC and Bank TuranAlem OJSC correspondingly. All ratings' outlook is "stable". Below is original message of Moody's Investors Service, which was published in the Internet. Global Credit Research, Rating Action, 8 NOV 2002. MOODY'S UPGRADES DEPOSIT RATINGS OF KAZKOMMERTSBANK, BANK TURANALEM, HALYK BANK AND ATF BANK (KAZAKHSTAN) Moody's Investors Service has upgraded to Ba1 from Ba3 the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings assigned to Kazkommertsbank, Bank TuranAlem and Halyk Bank in Kazakhstan. ATF Bank's deposit rating was also upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3. This rating action reflects Moody's belief that the largest banks in the system are likely to receive support from local authorities in case of distress, and follows the raising of the ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits in Kazakhstan to Ba1 from Ba3. The ratings of the senior unsecured notes issued by Kazkommerts International B.V. and TuranAlem Finance B.V. that are fully guaranteed by Kazkommertsbank and Bank TuranAlem, respectively, have also been raised to Baa3 from Ba2. All ratings have stable outlooks. JSC Kazkommertsbank is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan and reported total IAS consolidated assets of KZT215.1 billion (US$1.41 billion) as of 30 June 2002. Bank TuranAlem is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan and reported total IAS consolidated assets of KZT170.0 billion (US$1.11 billion) as of 30 June 2002. Halyk Bank is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan and reported total IAS consolidated assets of KZT151.9 billion (US$992.8 million) as of 30 June 2002. ATF Bank is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan and reported total IAS consolidated assets of KZT48.7 billion (US$318.6 million) as of 30 June 2002. [2002-11-11]