On Jan. 17, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term counterparty credit ratings on India's HDFC Bank Ltd. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'C' bank fundamental strength rating on HDFC Bank. The ratings on HDFC Bank reflect the bank's strong market position in the domestic banking industry, good financial profile supported by strong earnings, healthy capitalization, good loan quality, and diversification. The ratings also acknowledge the bank's sound management. Standard&Poor's tends not to rate banks above the sovereign credit rating because of the direct and indirect impact that a sovereign in distress would have on their operations, including the ability to service foreign currency
