Following a review of U.S. Bancorp (USB) under Standard&Poor's revised bank criteria (published Nov. 9, 2011), we have lowered our long-term issuer credit rating on USB to 'A' from 'A+', while affirming our 'A-1' short-term issuer credit rating. At the same time, we lowered our issuer credit rating on its operating subsidiary to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+'. The outlook is stable. Our ratings on USB reflect its very strong business position, adequate capital and earnings, strong risk position, average funding, and adequate liquidity. The ratings on USB do not benefit from any potential extraordinary government support in a crisis. We believe USB should be able to maintain its credit profile in the intermediate term despite the current operating environment.
