“Ranking refers to the order of repayment in the event of a sale or bankruptcy of the bank issuer. The term Seniority is also used. When an Issuer is wound up, each Debt Instrument has a specific seniority or ranking in terms of repayment. Senior debt is repaid before subordinated debt. Within Subordinated Debt, Tier3 gets paid first, followed by Upper Tier2, followed by Lower Tier 2, followed by Tier 1. 

In theory, after Subordinated Debt Instrument holders have been paid, and if relevant, preference share holders are followed by ordinary shareholders. Shareholders are for example not relevant in the context of sovereign and sovereign like borrowers.

Accordingly, the general ranking of bank debt securities (highest priority at the top (senior) and lowest at the bottom (equity)