On Dec. 20, 2013, we affirmed at 'BBB' the long-term rating on Banco Santander S.A., the ultimate parent of Santander UK PLC (SanUK), and assigned a stable outlook. This follows our Nov. 29 assignment of a stable outlook to the long-term sovereign credit rating on Spain, and the completion of our review of Santander's potential resilience under our criteria to a hypothetical default of Spain. We are affirming our 'A/A-1' ratings on SanUK. The negative outlook on SanUK reflects our view that while parental pressures on SanUK's creditworthiness have receded, negative pressure persists, related to U.K. banking industry risk. LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 20, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A/A-1' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on
