The 'AA' issuer credit rating on Australia-based major bank Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) is underpinned by our expectation that ANZ will remain among the strongest banks globally, based on key earnings metrics, earnings stability, and asset quality. The rating reflects our expectation that the global economic downturn is likely to have a fairly benign impact on the Australian economy, resulting in only a mild and short recession in the country. Furthermore, we believe that the Australian banking sector's less fiercely competitive environment relative to some global peers has resulted in less risky lending standards, reflected in lower loan-to-value ratios in the residential mortgage sector. Consequently, we believe that earnings pressures and impairment expenses or credit losses
