PARIS (Standard&Poor's) March 13, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has assigned an 'A-1+' short-term rating to the state-guaranteed euro commercial paper (ECP) program of Netherlands-based bank LeasePlan Corp. N.V. (A-/Negative/A-2). We have assessed LeasePlan's guaranteed ECP program and have concluded that issuance under this program qualifies for our "rating substitution treatment," or application of the same rating as on the sovereign (see "General Criteria: Rating Sovereign-Guaranteed Debt," published Nov. 21, 2008, on RatingsDirect). Accordingly, we have equalized the ratings on the short-term debt that LeasePlan plans to issue under this €3 billion guaranteed program with the 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit rating on the State of The Netherlands (AAA/Stable/A-1+). In our view, the guarantee provided
