SYDNEY (Standard&Poor's) March 26, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today kept its 'BBB' long-term counterparty credit rating for Bank of Queensland Ltd. (BOQ) on CreditWatch with positive implications. The 'A-2' short-term rating is unaffected. "Our ratings on BoQ are unaffected by the bank's announcement of a A$450 million equity issue," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Nico DeLange. "Because the announcement of the equity issue is a positive ratings development, we believe this counterbalances the negative ratings development of significantly higher loan-loss provisions that were also announced by the bank today. The announced underwritten equity issue was critical in our decision to maintain the bank's long-term issuer credit rating on CreditWatch positive, otherwise negative ratings momentum may have
