STOCKHOLM (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 27, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had affirmed its 'A' long-term counterparty credit ratings and 'A-1' short-term ratings on Sweden-based Swedbank AB. The outlook on the long-term ratings is negative. "The rating affirmation follows today's announcement that the bank will raise a total of SEK12.4 billion through a new issue of preference shares. The issue is 100% underwritten by the largest shareholders of the bank, including the savings banks foundation, the independent saving banks, and the Swedish national pension funds," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Miguel Pintado. While we recognize that the issue will enhance Swedbank's Core Tier 1 ratio and Tier 1 ratio by about 180 basis points to
