HONG KONG (Standard and Poor's) Jan. 23, 2002--Standard and Poor's said today that its double-'B'-plus rating on Bank of China is not affected by recent disciplinary action taken by regulators in response to misconduct at the bank's New York branch. The stable outlook on the rating is also unaffected. Fines have been imposed upon the bank's New York branch by both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S., and China's central bank, the People's Bank of China. The rating incorporates a significant degree of implicit government support overlaid on the bank's own business and financial profile. Standard&Poor's already views the profile of the bank as high risk, as is the case with other mainland
