MADRID (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 16, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Spain's second-largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), and its subsidiary Banco de Crédito Local de España S.A. after BBVA's announcement today of its acquisition of U.S.-based Compass Bancshares, Inc. for €7.5 billion. The outlook on both banks is positive. International expansion through acquisitions, mostly in the U.S., but also in Asia, gives BBVA the possibility of further expanding its business and diversifying its revenues. We expect BBVA to remain cautious in its expansion to minimize the potential problems of rapid growth in the competitive and sophisticated U.S. market. In addition, the
