On July 20, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A/A-1' long-term and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Germany-based DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale (DekaBank). The outlook is stable. The ratings on DekaBank are supported by its improved stand-alone profile. The bank's strong--albeit in recent years somewhat weakened--market position within the German mutual funds market, which strongly benefits from DekaBank's role as the central mutual-fund asset manager of the German savings banks sector, further underpin the ratings. Although Standard&Poor's continues to believe in the ongoing implicit support from its owners, savings banks and Landesbanks, the ratings on DekaBank no longer incorporate one notch of extraordinary ownership support at the current rating level. With €154 billion in total assets under
