LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 20, 2001--Standard&Poor's today revised the outlook on Abbey National PLC and Abbey National Life PLC to negative from stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its double-'A' long-term counterparty credit ratings on both entities and its 'A-1'-plus short-term counterparty credit rating on Abbey National PLC. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its double-'A'-minus and single-'A'-plus long-term counterparty credit ratings on Scottish Mutual Assurance PLC and Scottish Provident Ltd., respectively. The outlooks on both entities, which are subsidiaries of Abbey National PLC, were not revised. The ratings on Abbey National PLC continue to be supported by its strong U.K. market position, continuing good group profitability, good efficiency, strong liquidity, and effective distribution networks.
