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The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's: OVERVIEW -- Today's rating actions follow the application of our revised criteria for assessing asset-liability mismatch risk in covered bonds. -- We have affirmed or raised our ratings on eight covered bonds programs and the debt they issue, and at the same time removed each rating from CreditWatch. -- We have also assigned a stable outlook to seven of these programs and a negative outlook to one program. LONDON (Standard & Poor's) June 17, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed seven credit ratings and raised one rating on eight covered bond programs. At the same time, we removed the ratings from either CreditWatch negative or developing. Additionally, we have assigned stable outlooks to the covered bonds issued under seven of these programs and a negative outlook to the covered bonds issued under one program (see ratings list below). Today's rating actions follow the application of our updated covered bond criteria (see "Revised Methodology And Assumptions For Assessing Asset-Liability Mismatch Risk In Covered Bonds," published Dec. 16, 2009). Our rating actions follow a review of the most recent asset and cash flow information provided to us as well as structural amendments made to certain programs. We have also taken into account discussions with the issuers to understand their planned issuance profile and expected levels of credit enhancement. Following the application of our five-step criteria process, we have assessed the current asset-liability mismatch (ALMM) risk, the programs' categorization, the maximum potential covered bond ratings uplift, the cash flow and market value risk, and the credit enhancement provided. For the affirmed or raised ratings, we believe our analysis of these factors, along with other risk factors, is commensurate with a 'AAA' rating. We have consequently affirmed or raised our ratings on these eight programs. At the same time, also as part of our criteria update, have assigned stable outlooks to seven programs and a negative outlook to one program. These stable outlooks typically reflect the current amount of overcollateralization provided and our view on their ability to manage the current ALMM. It also reflects the fact that a downgrade of the issuer credit ratings would not automatically lead to a downgrade of the covered bond ratings, all other things being equal. In the case of the negative outlook, the covered bond rating already incorporates the maximum elevation possible. Consequently, a change of the current low ALMM or a downgrade of the issuer credit rating would automatically trigger a downgrade for the covered bonds under our criteria. For program-specific details on these factors see "Global Covered Bond Characteristics And Rating Summary," published June 17, 2010, to include the programs listed below. CREDITWATCH RESOLUTIONS We will generally aim to resolve the remaining covered bond CreditWatch placements within 10 business days of receiving final credit and cash flow information and after discussions with issuers to understand their planned issuance profile and expected levels of credit enhancement. We will likely publish our CreditWatch resolutions and assignment of outlooks weekly. RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCH -- Global Covered Bond Characteristics And Rating Summary, June 17, 2010 -- Credit FAQ: Standard & Poor's Explains Update To Criteria For Assessing Asset-Liability Mismatch Risk In Covered Bonds, Dec. 17, 2009 -- Revised Methodology And Assumptions For Assessing Asset-Liability Mismatch Risk In Covered Bonds, Dec. 16, 2009 -- Ratings On 98 Covered Bond Programs Placed On CreditWatch After Criteria Revision, Dec. 16, 2009 Related articles are available on RatingsDirect. Criteria, presales, servicer evaluations, and ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's Web site at www.standardandpoors.com. Alternatively, call one of the following Standard & Poor's numbers: Client Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office (44) 20-7176-3605; Paris (33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; Stockholm (46) 8-440-5914; or Moscow (7) 495-783-4011. RATINGS LIST Rating Program/ To From Country: Covered bond type RATINGS AFFIRMED OR RAISED AND REMOVED FROM CREDITWATCH; OUTLOOK ASSIGNED ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Covered Bond Programme AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg The Netherlands: Structured Covered Bonds AIB Mortgage Bank AAA/Negative AAA/Watch Neg Ireland: Mortgage Covered Securities Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg Ireland: Mortgage Covered Securities Bank of Ireland Covered Bond Programme (The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland Global Covered Bond Programme) AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg U.K.: Structured Covered Bonds Bank of Scotland PLC Social Housing Covered Bond Programme AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg U.K.: Structured Covered Bonds EAA Covered Bond Bank Public Ltd. Co. (former name: WestLB Covered Bond Bank PLC) AAA/Stable AA+/Watch Dev Ireland: Asset Covered Securities Nordea Kredit Realkredit A/S Capital Centre 1 AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg Denmark: Realkreditobligationer Nordea Kredit Realkredit A/S Capital Centre 2 AAA/Stable AAA/Watch Neg Denmark: Saerligt Daekkede Realkredit Obligationer Surveillance Credit Analysts: Jussi Harju, London (44) 20-7176-3395; jussi_harju@standardandpoors.com Elton Eakins, London (44) 20-7176-3698; elton_eakins@standardandpoors.com Liesl Saldanha, London (44) 20-7176-3571; liesl_saldanha@standardandpoors.com Additional surveillance credit analyst: Andrew O'Neill, London; andrew_oneill@standardandpoors.com Secondary Credit Analyst: Karlo Fuchs, Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-156; karlo_fuchs@standardandpoors.com Additional Contact: Covered Bonds Surveillance; CoveredBondSurveillance@standardandpoors.com No content (including ratings, credit-related analyses and data, model, software or other application or output therefrom) or any part thereof (Content) may be modified, reverse engineered, reproduced or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of S&P. The Content shall not be used for any unlawful or unauthorized purposes. S&P, its affiliates, and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively S&P Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or availability of the Content. S&P Parties are not responsible for any errors or omissions, regardless of the cause, for the results obtained from the use of the Content, or for the security or maintenance of any data input by the user. The Content is provided on an "as is" basis. S&P PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE CONTENT'S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE CONTENT WILL OPERATE WITH ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION. 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S&P's opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security. S&P does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor. While S&P has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, S&P does not perform an audit and undertakes no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. S&P keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units of S&P may have information that is not available to other S&P business units. S&P has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain non-public information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P may receive compensation for its ratings and certain credit-related analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P's public ratings and analyses are made available on its Web sites, www.standardandpoors.com (free of charge), and www.ratingsdirect.com and www.globalcreditportal.com (subscription), and may be distributed through (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires June 17, 2010 09:04 ET (13:04 GMT)