On May 16, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BB-/B' foreign currency counterparty and CD ratings on Banco G&T Continental S.A. (G&T Continental). The outlook remains stable. At the same time, we affirmed our 'BBB-' Survivability Assessment on G&T Continental. The affirmation reflects our expectations that G&T Continental's acquisition of Banco de Exportación S.A. will be funded with a prudent amount of equity and equity-like capital that will maintain capitalization levels adequate for the rating category. Although we expect part of the transaction to be financed with debt at the bank's holding company (Corporacion G&T Continental), operating companies could generate sufficient cash flow to pay down debt. Nevertheless, the necessity to upstream dividends to service debt at the
