On July 24, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A-' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings on Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) and Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (BA). The outlook is negative. In addition, the 'AAA' ratings on Öffentliche Pfandbriefe issued by HVB and the 'AA+' ratings on BA's guaranteed obligations were affirmed. The affirmation follows Standard&Poor's regular review of HVB and reflects the progress of the bank's restructuring process since November 2002. Following the IPO of BA and the sale of norisbank (not rated), HVB has successfully completed two important steps in this process, which had already been anticipated in Standard&Poor's ratings, however. Both transactions have improved
