The ratings on Italy-based Iccrea Banca SpA primarily reflect its status as the central bank of the Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC), a large and cohesive network of small Italian cooperative banks. The BCCs' aggregate creditworthiness leverages a strong market position in Italy, adequate aggregate financial profile, and sound support mechanism that strongly limits depositors' losses. Conversely, BCCs' often unsophisticated risk culture and their vulnerability to the current weak domestic economy are negative rating factors. As of Dec. 31, 2008, the BCC network was made up of about 432 rural cooperative banks, with a combined market share in loans of 7.4% and capitalization of more than €17 billion--comparable with that of a large Italian bank. BCCs are fully independent in
