PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 31, 2000--Standard&Poor's today assigned ratings to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), Spain's second-largest financial institution, created by the merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya S.A. (BBV) and Argentaria, Caja Postal y Banco Hipotecario, S.A. (Argentaria), which took legal effect on Jan. 28, 2000. Double-'A'-minus long-term and single-'A-1'-plus short-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings were assigned. The outlook is stable. In a related rating action, Standard&Poor's withdrew its counterparty credit ratings on BBV and Argentaria. The existing debt ratings on BBV and Argentaria, and their related entities, were transferred to BBVA and affirmed. (See list below for all ratings affected.) The ratings on BBVA balance a strong domestic franchise
