HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 9, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A-1' short-term issue rating and 'cnA-1' short-term Greater China regional scale rating to a U.S.-dollar-denominated overseas credit certificate (OCC) program of the Hong Kong branch of Bank of China Ltd. (BOC: A/Stable/A-1; cnAA+/cnA-1). The bank's branch may issue OCCs up to US$10 billion under the program. The rating on the program is equivalent to the short-term counterparty credit rating on BOC. The issuer's obligations under the program will rank at least equally with all unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the issuer or the bank, including their respective obligations in respect of all present and future deposits. These exclude obligations in respect of taxes and any
