We believe that the U.K. banking industry is making good progress in its multi-year transformation toward a more predictable risk profile. As a result, we now see a stable trend for U.K. banking industry risk, which we had viewed as negative previously. This development also supports our unaltered view of Santander UK PLC's stand-alone creditworthiness. We are affirming our 'A/A-1' counterparty credit ratings on Santander UK. The negative outlook reflects the possible removal of extraordinary government support from the long-term counterparty credit rating on Santander UK by year-end 2015. On May 22, 2014, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A/A-1' counterparty credit ratings on U.K.-based Santander UK PLC. The outlook is negative. The affirmation reflects our view that the
