On Dec. 3, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on Deutsche Bank AG to stable from negative. At the same time, the 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term ratings on Deutsche Bank AG and related entities were affirmed. The rating action follows Standard&Poor's regular review of Deutsche Bank and in part reflects the stabilized operating environment for the bank's key businesses. It also reflects Standard&Poor's expectation of sustained further improvements in Deutsche Bank's profitability--which is, however, still lagging that of many similarly rated banks--as well as further improvements in the bank's asset quality indicators and its continued solid capitalization. Deutsche Bank's operating performance during 2003 has so far demonstrated a significant recovery from the
