MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) Jan. 17, 2006--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said that it affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Australia-based financial services provider Credit Union Services Corp. (Australia) Ltd. (CUSCAL). The rating outlook is stable. The ratings on CUSCAL reflect its principal position in Australia's credit union sector, very good asset quality, and its strong liquidity and funding profile. Moderating these factors is CUSCAL's history of modest, although improving, absolute earnings, and relatively low absolute level of capital by international standards. "In recent times, CUSCAL's financial profile has benefited from its strategic focus on its core role of supporting credit unions' operations, and on improving its operational efficiency," said Standard & Poor's credit
