The ratings on Clearstream Banking S.A., Luxembourg (CBL) continue to reflect its extremely low-risk profile and its significant role in the international financial markets. As CBL is an integral part of the transaction processing chain, the ratings also reflect the Clearstream International (Clearstream) group's core status within the Deutsche Börse AG group (DBAG; AA+/Stable/A-1+). By June 5, 2002, DBAG had received all the necessary regulatory approvals for the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Clearstream that it did not already own. Now that the acquisition of the Clearstream group has been finalized, CBL is expected to be fully integrated into the DBAG group in the context of the latter's strategy of achieving vertical integration of securities services and processing, which
