Moody's affirmed Citadel Securities LP's issuer and senior secured bank credit facility ratings at Ba1.

In addition, Moody's affirmed the issuer ratings of Citadel Securities LLC, Citadel Securities (Europe) Ltd. and Citadel Securities GCS (Ireland) Ltd. at Baa3.

Moody's said that the ratings of Citadel Securities LLC, Citadel Securities (Europe) and Citadel Securities GCS are a notch higher than Citadel Securities LP because of the structural superiority afforded to the operating companies' obligations in comparison to the holding company's obligations.

The outlook on all four rated entities was changed to positive from stable.

The ratings affirmations reflect the "strength" of Citadel Securities LP's global electronic market-making activities across a variety of cash equities, fixed income and derivatives markets.

Moody's said the change in outlook to positive from stable shows the "resiliency" of Citadel Securities LP's financial profile and "improvements" in its funding profile, especially from the retention of a significant portion of its earnings.