Standard&Poor's is placing the 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Austria on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time we are affirming Austria's 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit rating. The CreditWatch placement is prompted by our concerns about the potential impact on Austria of what we view as deepening political, financial, and monetary problems within the European Economic and Monetary Union. Our CreditWatch review will focus on the "political", "external", and "monetary" scores we have assigned to Austria in accordance with our criteria. We expect to conclude our review as soon as possible after the European summit on Dec. 9, 2011. FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 5, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today placed the
