On April 24, 2002, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Westpac Banking Corp. (Westpac) following the bank's announcement that it will acquire Rothschild Australia Asset Management Ltd. for approximately A$323 million. While this transaction adds critical mass to the bank's funds management operations and is consistent with its long-held strategic direction, it does weaken core capital in the short term. Somewhat offsetting this is the possible sale of the AGC business, funds from which could be used to return the bank's capital to preacquisition levels, and that the acquisition price is only four months of internally generated capital for the group. Adjusted common equity to risk-weighted assets falls to 4.83% based on
