As part of our review of U.S. banks, we think the bank will underperform peers based on our recent stress testing, even as capital boosting measures somewhat mitigate these stresses. We have lowered our counterparty credit rating on Fifth Third Bancorp to 'BBB' from 'A-'. The outlook is negative. We believe that the bank's future operating performance remains vulnerable to developments in real estate markets, particularly in Florida. On June 17, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its counterparty credit rating on Fifth Third Bancorp to 'BBB/A-2' from 'A-/A-2'. At the same time, we also lowered the ratings on both Fifth Third Bank Ohio and Fifth Third Bank Michigan to 'BBB+/A-2' from 'A/A-1'. The ratings have been removed from
