On Dec. 1, 2015, we published our new criteria for investment holding companies. The new criteria have no impact on the stand-alone credit profile (SACP) of Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), which we continue to assess at 'bb'. We continue to estimate that there is an almost certain likelihood that SEPI, the holding company that manages the Spanish government's industrial shares, would receive timely and sufficient extraordinary support from the Spanish government if needed, and we therefore continue to equalize our issuer credit ratings on SEPI with those on Spain. We are affirming our 'BBB+/A-2' ratings on SEPI. The stable outlook on SEPI mirrors the outlook on Spain. On Dec. 17, 2015, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its
