Public policy role in facilitating the workout of the former WestLB AG and winding up of all transferred risk positions. Integral link to the German state of North Rhine Westphalia because of the ownership structure and state support mechanism. Business limits as a nonbank workout entity. No internal capital generation capacity and depletion of the existing capital base to a low level due to loss accumulation. Reliance on government support to close capital, funding, and liquidity gaps in case of need. S&P Global Ratings' stable outlook on Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA) reflects that we do not expect changes to the ownership structure or strong commitment of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW; AA/Stable/A-1+) in the next two years. The outlook