NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) March 10, 1999--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its ratings on National Bank of Canada (National) and related entities and removed them from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Dec. 18, 1998 (see list). The outlook is now negative. Ratings were removed from CreditWatch with negative implications as concerns over risk management and business strategy raised in the December press release have been allayed. The rating actions also reflect National's increased focus on U.S. asset-based lending and overall financial performance vis-à-vis both its Canadian and global peers. Profitability measures were hurt by two significant expenditures in 1998 amounting to more than C$100 million: $40 million to boost U.S. loan reserves and $64 million to write
