We affirmed our unsolicited 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit ratings on the Federal Republic of Germany on Jan. 13, 2012. We equalize our long-term rating on KfW with those on Germany, reflecting our opinion of an "almost certain" likelihood that KfW would receive timely and sufficient extraordinary support from the German government. Consequently, we are affirming our 'AAA' long-term rating on KfW and removing it from CreditWatch negative. We are also affirming the 'A-1+' short-term rating. The stable outlook reflects that on the Federal Republic of Germany. On Jan. 17, 2012, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AAA' long-term issuer credit ratings on KfW. At the same time, we removed the ratings on KfW from CreditWatch with negative implications, where
