STOCKHOLM (Standard&Poor's) March 30, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it plans to assign its 'A-1+' short-term rating to a new state-guaranteed U.S. commercial paper program of Sweden-based bank Swedbank AB (A/Negative/A-1). The rating is provisional and subject to final documentation. We have assessed the program and concluded that issuance under it qualifies for our "rating substitution treatment", or application of the same rating as on the sovereign (see "General Criteria: Rating Sovereign-Guaranteed Debt", published Nov. 21, 2008, on RatingsDirect). Accordingly, we will equalize the ratings on the short-term debt that Swedbank plans to issue under the new $15 billion program with the 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit rating on the Kingdom of Sweden (AAA/Stable/A-1+). In our
