PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) March 19, 2001--Standard&Poor's today assigned first ratings to Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV), Switzerland's second-largest cantonal bank. Single-'A'-minus long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings were assigned. The outlook is stable. The ratings are based on BCV's overall stable financial performance. The bank's operating profile is mainly characterized by a generally well-diversified earnings stream and good cost control, which have provided for consistent growth in profitability despite the weight of continued provisioning efforts. BCV's asset quality remains pressured by the legacy of its consolidation with weaker regional banks undertaken in the early 1990s--notably the 1993 absorption of Banque Vaudoise de Crédit--as a result of the sustained weakness of the Swiss
