On Dec. 19, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Deutsche Bank AG to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+'. The ratings on subsidiaries were also lowered by one notch. The outlook on all entities is stable. The rating actions on Deutsche Bank follow Standard&Poor's global review of major mature-market financial institutions (see related article "Twelve Major U.S. And European Financial Institutions Have Ratings Lowered, Outlooks Revised,? published earlier today). In our opinion, Deutsche Bank has weathered the turbulence relatively well. Financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank remain strong, viable businesses, in our view. Additionally, government actions taken across the globe have provided significant support for banks' creditworthiness generally. However, the rating actions
