(Editor's note: This media release was published earlier today. It has been republished with an amendment to the third paragraph. In the reference to the related media release, the rating was misstated. A corrected version follows.) FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 9, 2002--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its long- and short-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings on Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) and Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (BA) to 'A-/A-2' from 'A/A-1'. The outlook is negative. At the same time, the ratings on HVB and BA were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Oct. 24, 2002, following weaker-than-expected third-quarter results and the announcement concerning the spin-off of HVB's mortgage bank subsidiaries.
