MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) March 19, 2008--The global capital market dislocation is placing funding pressure on Australian financial institutions (FIs) but generally credit profiles have not materially deteriorated to date, according to Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today after a recent review on rated Australian FIs. We believe that the impact will be felt more by FIs rated in the 'BBB' category rather than those in the 'A' and 'AA' categories. Our review resulted in 24 ratings affirmed, two ratings lowered, one rating raised, one rating placed on CreditWatch, and three rating outlooks revised (see list). "Difficult wholesale funding markets are placing pressure on ratings, but most Australian FIs are proactively managing these challenges," Standard&Poor's credit analyst Sharad
