On March 18, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term counterparty credit ratings on UniCredit SpA to 'A' from 'A+'. At the same time, it affirmed its 'A-1' short-term rating. The outlook is stable. At the same time, we downgraded several related entities of the UniCredit group (see the Ratings List below). The downgrade reflects our expectation that worsening macroeconomic conditions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as in Western Europe will lead to high asset quality and profitability pressures for UniCredit in 2009 and 2010. The current ratings on UniCredit reflect a balancing of our expectation of a weaker credit and financial performance with our view on the bank's high business and earnings diversification and
