Westpac Banking Corp.'s Capital Notes Rated 'BBB-'

SYDNEY (Standard&Poor's) July 27, 2015--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has assigned its 'BBB-' issue credit rating to Westpac Banking Corp.'s (WBC; AA-/Stable/A-1+) proposed Westpac Capital Notes 3 (WCN3). Standard&Poor's rates the WCN3 four notches below WBC's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) of 'a'. We use WBC's SACP as the starting point of the rating on WCN3 because we consider that it is unlikely that the Australian government's support for WBC and other Australian banks—if needed—would extend to the hybrid capital instruments issued by the banks. The four-notch deduction off WBC's SACP reflects the following factors: We deduct one notch for the WCN3's subordinated status; Two notches for the risk of partial or untimely

...SYDNEY (Standard & Poor's) July 27, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has assigned its '###-' issue credit rating to Westpac Banking Corp.'s (WBC; ##-/Stable/A-1+) proposed Westpac Capital Notes 3 (WCN3). Standard & Poor's rates the WCN3 four notches below WBC's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) of 'a'. We use WBC's SACP as the starting point of the rating on WCN3 because we consider that it is unlikely that the Australian government's support for WBC and other Australian banks--if needed--would extend to the hybrid capital instruments issued by the banks. The four-notch deduction off WBC's SACP reflects the following factors: + We deduct one notch for the WCN3's subordinated status; + Two notches for the risk of partial or untimely payment; and, + One notch for a nonviability contingent capital feature that would require WBC to convert all or a proportion of the WCN3 into ordinary shares or write them off, if a nonviability trigger event occurred. In Standard...

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