We are concerned about the banking sector and its ability to absorb what we believe will be higher credit losses given the severity of the national economic recession. We are placing our rating on Capital One Financial Corp. on CreditWatch Negative. We could lower the rating by one notch or more, or affirm the rating with a negative outlook. On May 4, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its 'BBB+' long-term counterparty credit rating on Capital One and its 'A-/A-2' counterparty credit rating on Capital One's bank subsidiaries on CreditWatch Negative. The CreditWatch placement is part of an ongoing industry review and follows our recent criteria on stress testing and U.S. banks (see "Credit Stress Testing For Financial Institutions"
