TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 26, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it raised its long-term counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) and its subsidiaries to 'AA-' from 'A+'. At the same time Standard&Poor's raised its short-term counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Scotiabank and its subsidiaries to 'A-1+' from 'A-1'. The outlook is currently stable. "The ratings on Scotiabank reflects its track record of generating strong and consistent earnings, despite the asset quality issues that it faced with its U.S. leverage-lending portfolio in the early 2000s, its problems with Argentina, and the negative effect of currency translation on U.S. and other foreign denominated earnings," said Standard
