MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 24, 2001--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its double-'A' long-term and 'A-1'-plus short-term counterparty credit ratings on National Australia Bank Ltd. (The National), as well as its double-'A'-minus long-term and 'A-1'-plus short-term counterparty credit ratings on Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp. (Westpac). The rating outlook on all the banks remains stable. The double-'A'-minus long-term and 'A-1'-plus short-term counterparty credit ratings on Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) were affirmed on Dec. 12, 2000, when Standard&Poor's revised the outlook on CBA to positive from stable. "The financial profiles of Australia's four major banks are strong and remain consistent with their double-'A' category ratings," said Gavin Gunning, director, Financial
