LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Sept. 13, 2000--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'A'-plus rating to the proposed issue of U.S.-dollar reserve capital instruments (RCIs) by U.K.-based Barclays Bank PLC (AA/Stable/A-1+). The RCIs are perpetual bonds and direct obligations of Barclays Bank PLC. In the unlikely event of the bank's liquidation, the RCIs will be treated as a class of preference shares ranking senior to all other classes of shares in Barclays Bank PLC. Barclays has structured the RCIs to bear a mix of the characteristics of preference shares and junior subordinated debt. Standard&Poor's typically rates such instruments two or three notches below the issuer's counterparty credit rating. The RCIs are rated two notches below Barclays Bank PLC's
