FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 8, 2002--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it placed its single-'A'-plus counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Germany-based R+V Versicherung AG (RVV) on CreditWatch with negative implications. The rating action follows the lowering of the ratings on parent company DZ Bank Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank AG (DZ Bank) to single-'A'-minus/'A-2' from single-'A'/'A-1'. (See the media release entitled "DZ Bank and Related Entities Ratings Cut; Various Rating Actions After Downgrade; Outlk Neg", published on Aug. 7, 2002, on RatingsDirect, Standard&Poor's Web-based credit analysis system.) "The financial strength of RVV, the holding and reinsurance company of the R+V group, derives mainly from its core subsidiaries, R+V Lebensversicherung AG (RVL; Api/--/--) and R+V Allgemeine Versicherung
