NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 12, 2001--Standard&Poor's today lowered its various ratings (see list) on The St Paul Cos. Inc. and its insurance subsidiaries (collectively referred to as St. Paul) and removed them from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Sept. 20, 2001. The outlook is negative. The ratings had been placed on CreditWatch following St. Paul's reported exposure to losses from the World Trade Center (WTC) attack. Today's rating actions follow the company's announcement of significant restructuring of its insurance businesses, which will affect its reinsurance and medical malpractice business lines, along with an exit from some of its international operations. Prospectively, the company will concentrate its resources on its core commercial book of business, which
