LONDON (Standard&Poor's) March 9, 2009--On Feb. 26, 2009, U.K. bank holding company The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBSG; A/Stable/A-1; main operating entities rated A+/Stable/A-1) made multiple announcements covering its 2008 results, wide-ranging restructuring plan, and its planned access to the U.K. government's Asset Protection Scheme (APS). In our view, these major developments reinforce our opinion that the counterparty credit ratings on RBSG remain strongly supported by the U.K. government, that its stand-alone creditworthiness is weaker than most major global banking peers, and that its earnings prospects over the two-year outlook time horizon will be very difficult. That said, in our opinion the restructuring plan does appear to provide a sensible roadmap for RBSG to gradually rebuild
