MADRID (Standard&Poor's) April 11, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Spain's second-largest financial institution Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) and subsidiary Banco de Crédito Local de España S.A., and removed them from CreditWatch, where they had been placed on March 21, 2005. The outlook on both entities is stable. Standard&Poor's 'BBB+' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Italian bank Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA (BNL) remain on CreditWatch with positive implications, where they were placed on March 21, 2005. The affirmation is based on the strategic rationale behind BBVA's bid to acquire the 85.28% of BNL's capital that
