MADRID (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 2, 2008—Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that after reviewing the Kingdom of Spain's guarantee scheme, we have concluded that we expect to rate debt that banks issue under the scheme at the same level as the sovereign credit ratings, that is 'AAA' for long-term debt and 'A-1+' for short-term debt. In our view, the Spanish guarantee qualifies for rating substitution treatment since the guarantee meets our criteria for considering it irrevocable, unconditional, and timely. The Spanish guarantee program allows for maturities from three months up to three years, or five years in exceptional circumstances, for senior instruments in the form of "pagarés" (domestic commercial paper) and senior unsecured bonds. Under the scheme launched
