LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 23, 2006—Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its 'AAA' preliminary credit rating to the €15 billion covered bond program to be issued by HSBC Bank PLC. "HSBC has established a platform that will use a single mortgage portfolio for the issue of both covered bonds and RMBS," said Karen Naylor, Head of the Covered Bond team. "The ability to issue both asset classes from one platform will give HSBC more flexibility in funding and give the bank the ability to access either market more quickly than if it had separate platforms. In certain circumstances, it also allows HSBC to access principal cash flows that are not required by the covered bondholders
