At Dutch bank LeasePlan, a worldwide leader in fleet leasing, we expect the funding profile to remain a key rating constraint and earnings prospects to weaken. We lowered the long-term rating to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and affirmed the short-term rating at 'A-2'. We now include one notch of uplift in our 'BBB+' rating for LeasePlan's strategically important status to Volkswagen AG. The negative outlook reflects the medium-term funding and profitability challenges the bank faces. On Sept. 14, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered the long-term counterparty credit rating on Dutch bank LeasePlan Corporation N.V. to 'BBB+' from 'A-'. At the same time, we removed the long-term rating from CreditWatch with negative implications, where it was placed on May 8,
