Standard& Poor's Ratings Services on March 30 affirmed 's long- andshort-term counterparty credit ratings at BBB/A-2 and removed them fromCreditWatch with negative implications, where they were Nov. 16, 2015.
Basedon more detailed information regarding UniCredit SpA's group-wide , S&P expectsthat UniCredit Bank Austria will represent a better-capitalized but morenarrowly focused domestic Austrian lender that benefits from improvedrisk-adjusted capitalization with reduced tail risk. S&P expects that theAustrian bank's restructuring will not damage its sound funding andliquidity profile.
Theoutlook is negative, indicating that S&P could lower the ratings if itseems probable that EU regulation moves in favor of a more unified single-resolutionprocess for all cross-border members of nationwide groups, such as UniCredit.The outlook also reflects the potential for a downgrade should the bank'srestructuring weaken its stand-alone creditworthiness more than anticipated.
S&P Ratings andGlobal Market Intelligence are owned by McGraw Hill Financial Inc.