On Aug. 29, 2002, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said it assigned its single-'A'-plus rating to The Toronto-Dominion Bank's (TD Bank; AA-/Negative/A-1+) C$550 million subordinated debentures. The ratings outstanding on the bank remain unchanged. The outlook is negative. The ratings on TD Bank reflect its very strong market position within most segments of the domestic retail-banking sector. The acquisition of Canada Trust further strengthened the bank's retail platform. Of the Canadian banks, TD Bank continues to be one of the most vulnerable to the continuing tumultuous capital markets and poor credit environment, as a significant proportion of revenues and earnings are market related and the lending book reflects material exposure to the beleaguered cable and telecom industry as well as
