On June 19, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A+/A-1' counterparty credit ratings on Nationwide Building Society following a review of rated U.K. banks and building societies. The outlook is stable. The ratings on Nationwide reflect its strong capitalization, strong liquidity, important market position as the only large mutual competitor in the U.K. retail market, and low risk profile loan book. Offsetting factors are that earnings measures and the degree of business diversity compare less favorably to larger U.K. peers. Nationwide is the U.K.'s seventh-largest financial institution. It is also by some margin the largest building society, a position reinforced by its merger with Portman Building Society, completed August 2007. The enlarged Nationwide, which now has about 14
