Strong franchise in Italy, Austria, Poland, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and the German State of Bavaria. High level of business and geographic diversification. Sound and well-balanced funding base. Significant business and credit exposure in countries where economic risk is higher than that for the average of international peers. Still modest, although improving, capitalization and profitability. Large stock of problematic assets. The stable outlook mirrors that on our long-term ratings on Italy (unsolicited BBB-/Stable/A-3) since we are unlikely to rate the bank above the sovereign credit rating. This reflects our belief that UniCredit would be unlikely to pass the stress test scenario that, under our methodology, would likely accompany a hypothetical sovereign default in Italy, given the bank's Italian exposure
