INTERNATIONAL credit rating agency, Duff & Phelps (DCR), has placed the domestic ratings of Nedcor Bank and Standard Bank on positive rating watch, following the recent announcement that the banks are investigating a merger. FitchIBCA expressed concerns about industry and risk concentration when evaluating the firms’ ratings. According to DCR analyst, Charles Nel, if the merger goes ahead this will have a positive impact on the merged firm’s long term credit rating, which can be expected to pierce the domestic rating ceiling of AA that DCR has applied to the South African banking industry up until now. “Such a merger would change the face of the South African banking sector and would result in an entity which is better placed to compete on an international scale,” Nel said.