NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 10/28/98 -- Standard&Poor's today affirmed its ratings on Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG (see list below). The outlook is stable. The affirmation follows Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank's (HypoVereinsbank) announcement of DM3.5bn (about US$2 billion) provisioning needs for existing loans to real estate developers of former Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank (Hypobank). The bank intends to absorb the increase in loan loss provisions through the use of hidden reserves linked to its securities portfolio to avoid a negative impact on its 1998 results. After the announcement of the merger plan, Hypobank had already made use of hidden reserves in 1997 to bolster provisions by DM1.4 billion particularly in this area of lending, which dates back to
