On 12 May 2026 Fitch Ratings (‘Fitch’) announced the upgrade of Rabobank's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘AA-’ from ‘A+’. The rating action follows the publication of Fitch’s updated Bank Rating Criteria on 8 May 2026.
The key amendments to Fitch’s methodology relate to banks in jurisdictions with developed resolution regimes. A notable change is that going forward, the IDR of banks in such jurisdictions will be mapped to the senior unsecured (senior preferred) debt rating. Previously, the IDR was aligned with the senior resolution (senior non-preferred) debt rating. The upgrade of Rabobank’s Long-Term IDR also reflects its large resolution debt buffer and structurally high CET1 ratio.
Rabobank’s long-term deposit rating was upgraded to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-’, to reflect Fitch’s revised view of increased depositor protection from the bank’s large resolution debt buffer.
Fitch also upgraded Rabobank’s Short-Term IDR to ‘F1+’ from ‘F1’ and its short-term deposit rating was affirmed at 'F1+', which is the only option mapping to Rabobank’s corresponding ‘AA-’ and ‘AA’ long-term ratings.
Please find here Fitch’s press release dated 12 May 2026.