On June 22, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A+' long-term and 'A-1' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Italian bank UniCredito Italiano SpA and its subsidiary Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (BA-CA). The outlook on both entities is stable. The affirmations follow the announcement that Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG, which is responsible within the UniCredito group for commercial banking activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a majority shareholding in ATF Bank (B+/Watch Pos/B), the fourth-largest bank by assets in Kazakhstan. The deal is subject to regulatory authorizations. For more information on ATF Bank, please see our related research update "Kazakhstan ATF Bank 'B+' Rating Placed On Watch Positive On UniCredito
