We have reviewed Barclays Bank PLC's recently announced strategy update and believe that it does not alter our existing view of the bank's creditworthiness. At the same time, 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 Barclays' stand-alone creditworthiness. We are affirming our 'A/A-1' counterparty credit ratings on Barclays. The negative outlook reflects the possible removal of extraordinary government support from the long-term counterparty credit rating on Barclays by year-end 2015. On May 22, 2014, Standard&Poor's
