In our opinion, UniCredit SpA's (UniCredit) financial profile is exposed to the heightened economic and industry risks we now see for banks operating in Italy. Nevertheless, we believe that UniCredit's business and financial profiles remain consistent with our current ratings, even after we take into account the negative impact of these risks. We are therefore affirming our 'BBB/A-2' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on UniCredit. The negative outlook reflects the possibility that we could lower the ratings on UniCredit if we lowered the long-term rating on Italy, or if we anticipated that the economic and/or operating conditions in which Italian banks operate would deteriorate further or a weakening of UniCredit's asset quality performance or capital position. On July 24,
