On Feb. 8, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings on the bank subsidiaries of Fifth Third Bancorp., including the 'AA-' long-term counterparty ratings. At the same time, it lowered its ratings on Fifth Third Bancorp., the holding company, including lowering the counterparty ratings to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+', and removed them from CreditWatch where they were placed Dec. 3, 2004. The outlook is stable. This action normalizes the ratings on Fifth Third to be consistent with Standard&Poor's criteria practice of notching the holding company off of the bank ratings. The holding company ratings were lowered as Fifth Third has increased holding-company and consolidated leverage. Although management has indicated that recent reductions in tangible capital levels will
