LONDON (Standard & Poor's CreditWire) April 5, 2000--Standard & Poor's today affirmed its double-'A'-minus counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Germany-based R+V Versicherung AG (RVV). At the same time, Standard & Poor's revised the outlook to negative from stable. The rating reflects the R+V group's (RV) well diversified operations and strong distribution capabilities, as well as an extremely strong capitalization. The outlook revision reflects the highly competitive operating environment in the German insurance market, and the expected weakening in RV's operating performance combined with concerns that reorganization initiatives may not be sufficient to fully restore RV's historically very strong earnings levels. RVV is the reinsurance operation as well as the group's holding company. The main operating entities of RV
