SAO PAULO (Standard&Poor's) July 10, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its short-term ratings on the following Brazilian financial institutions to 'A-2' from 'A-3': Banco Bradesco S.A.; Banco Citibank S.A.; Banco do Brasil S.A. (BdB); Banco do Nordeste do Brasil S.A.(BNB); Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.; HSBC Bank Brasil S.A.; Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.; and Banco Itau BBA S.A. All other ratings and outlooks remain unchanged. The change does not reflect an improvement in our view of these banks' short-term creditworthiness. The rating action on these entities, which include six private universal banks and two government-related entities, mirrors the same rating action we took on the short-term foreign currency rating on Brazil (see "Brazil Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating Raised
