HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 26, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had revised the outlook on its 'BB' long-term foreign currency counterparty credit rating on Bank of Communications (BoCom) to positive from stable after taking into consideration recent improvements in the bank's capital and asset quality. BoCom's capital has been strengthened by Chinese renminbi (RMB) 18 billion in capital injections from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, its major shareholder, and other government linked agencies, and further augmented by an acquisition of a 19.9% interest in BoCom by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. (HSBC Asia-Pacific; foreign currency A+/Stable/A-1, local currency AA-/Stable/A-1+). The transaction makes HSBC Asia-Pacific BoCom's second-largest shareholder, after the ministry. Prior to the
