The U.K. government continues to benefit from its exceptional monetary flexibility and its strong and tested institutions, in our opinion. We believe that the government will implement its fiscal mandate and that it has the ability and willingness to respond rapidly to economic challenges. We are therefore affirming our 'AAA/A-1+' unsolicited sovereign credit ratings on the U.K. The outlook remains negative, reflecting our view of at least a one-in-three chance that we could lower the ratings if the U.K.'s economic and fiscal performances were to weaken beyond our current expectations. On April 5, 2013, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AAA/A-1+' unsolicited sovereign credit ratings on the United Kingdom. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We have
