LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 19, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings and outlook on Zurich-based reinsurer, Swiss Reinsurance Co. (Swiss Re; AA-/Stable/A-1+), are unaffected by this morning's announcement by Swiss Re that it has incurred a Swiss franc (CHF) 1.2 billion mark-to-market loss (CHF981 million after tax) in respect of two credit default swap (CDS) transactions. Under these transactions, Swiss Re effectively provided protection against a fall in the market value of the reference asset portfolio, which included both subprime mortgage-related instruments and related CDOs. The mark-to-market adjustment follows the recent turmoil in debt markets, and its magnitude has been exacerbated by the illiquidity currently seen for these instruments
