LONDON (Standard&Poor's) March 6, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its long-term counterparty credit rating on Lloyds TSB Bank PLC (LTSB) and Bank of Scotland PLC by one notch to 'A+' from 'AA-'. At the same time, the short-term ratings were lowered to 'A-1' from 'A-1+'. In addition, the long-term ratings on core life insurance subsidiaries Scottish Widows PLC and Clerical Medical Investment Group Ltd. were lowered to 'A+' from 'AA-'. Furthermore, the long-term counterparty credit rating on the holding company, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LBG), was lowered to 'A' from 'A+'. The short-term rating of 'A-1' was affirmed. The outlook on all these entities is stable. We also lowered the ratings on certain
