LONDON (Standard&Poor's) March 31, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Barclays Bank PLC (AA-/Negative/A-1+) were unaffected by Barclays' decision not to join the U.K. government's Asset Protection Scheme (APS), as announced yesterday. Two other U.K. banks, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (A/Stable/A-1) and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (A/Stable/A-1), have joined the APS, through which the government substantially protects the banks against severe losses on certain assets. Barclays also stated recently that it continues to meet the Financial Services Authority's capital requirements following the application of regulatory stress tests. In addition, Barclays said today that it now has a preferred bidder for its ishares business. Standard&Poor's will continue
