On Aug. 25, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its long-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings on Czech Republic-based bank Ceska Sporitelna a.s. (CS) to 'A-' from 'BBB+', and affirmed its 'A-2' short-term ratings. At the same time, the ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with positive implications on June 30, 2005. The outlook on the local currency ratings on CS is positive, and the outlook on the foreign currency ratings is stable. The upgrade reflects CS' core status within Austria-based Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG (Erste Bank; --/--/A-2), where it has, over time, played an increasingly important role in the overall creditworthiness of Erste Bank and its strategic ambitions to become
