TORONTO (Standard & Poor's) Nov. 2, 2006--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said the ratings on Montreal, Que.-based telecommunications holding company BCE Inc. and wholly owned subsidiary Bell Canada remain on CreditWatch with negative implications following the Canadian federal government's plans to impose corporate taxes on new income trust structures. "The ability to eliminate corporate taxes was a key factor influencing BCE's decision to convert to an income trust structure and, accordingly, the government's proposal, if implemented, could preclude BCE's conversion," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Madhav Hari. Standard & Poor's had viewed the trust conversion by itself as having a modestly negative credit impact; however, weak pro forma credit metrics formed the basis of a potential one-notch downgrade
