On Feb. 13, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services decided to maintain on CreditWatch with positive implications the 'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Fortis Bank SA/NV (FBB) and on core subsidiary BGL S.A. (formerly Fortis Bank Luxembourg S.A.), where they originally had been placed on Oct. 6, 2008. Our CreditWatch update on FBB follows decisions that shareholders took at the Fortis SA/NV general shareholders meeting on Feb. 11, 2009. Shareholders rejected a number of proposals regarding various entities of the former Fortis group, including those involving the sale of a majority stake in FBB to the Belgian state and subsequent transfer of a 75% stake to BNP Paribas (AA/Negative/A-1+). However, we understand that the original agreements,
