LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 6, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its foreign currency sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Iceland to 'BBB/A-3' from 'A-/A-2' and its local currency sovereign credit rating to 'BBB+/A-2' from 'A+/A-1'. Standard&Poor's also said that it removed the long-term ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Sept. 29, 2008, with negative implications. In addition, Standard&Poor's lowered its transfer and convertibility assessment on Iceland to 'A-' from 'AA-'. In conjunction with these rating actions, Standard&Poor's also lowered its foreign currency ratings on Ibudalanasjodur (Housing Financing Fund; HFF), the government-owned enterprise for housing finance, to 'BBB/A-3' from 'A-/A-2' and its local currency rating to
