On Jan. 23, 2004, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its CreditWatch status on the 'BBB+' counterparty credit and debt ratings on the St. Paul Cos. Inc. (NYSE:SPC) and its 'A+' counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on SPC's insurance company subsidiaries (collectively, St. Paul; see ratings list) to CreditWatch Developing from CreditWatch Positive. These ratings were placed on CreditWatch Nov. 17, 2003, following the company's announcement that its Board of Directors had approved a plan to merge with Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (NYSE:TAP.A; A-/WatchNeg/--). The decision to change the CreditWatch status to developing from positive follows today's announcement by St. Paul of a $350 million pretax charge to strengthen reserves for its health care business, which is in runoff.
