According to Moody's, CSB's standalone E+ BFSR, which maps to the long-term scale of B2, remains constrained by (i) its narrow franchise, with focus on provision of treasury and settlement services to large corporate customers in Uzbekistan and (ii) very high concentrations in funding. The ratings also reflect CSB's cautious approach towards liquidity and credit risks as well as its sound financial indicators, especially in terms of liquidity, profitability and capitalisation.

In 2010, CSB's total assets grew by 17%, which is lower than the market average. Although customer accounts grew by more than 25%, the bank has not promoted new lending opportunities, but has instead kept an excessive liquidity cushion to preserve stability in the event of material outflow of funds from its highly concentrated deposits. Moody's also observes that the top-20 depositors accounted for over 50% of the bank's customer accounts as of 31 December 2010, while short-term liquid assets covered over 90% of customer deposits. The bank's strategy is to maintain low credit risk to local corporate focusing on settlement commission business, thus as of YE2010 the loan book formed 15% of the bank's assets.

Although the bank maintained high levels of lower-yield liquid assets, it demonstrated sound profitability, with Return on Assets of 4.2% and Return on Equity of 28.7% in 2010. The key driver for CSB's performance was commission income which contributed 53% to operating income, as the bank is a settlement centre for a number of local 'blue chip' entities and for subsidiaries of international companies, while its visibility in other segments is limited. At the same time, Moody's notes that CSB's business is managed through a small branch network, and thus its bottom-line performance does not face significant pressure from operating expenses: the cost-to-income ratio was 53% in 2010.

Domiciled in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, CSB reported -- as at 31 December 2010 -- total audited IFRS assets ofUS$169 million and net income of US$6.5 million.