SINGAPORE (Standard & Poor's) July 31, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services today assigned the following ASEAN regional scale ratings to
Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya Public Co. Ltd. (BBB-/Stable/A-3).
Issuer Country ASEAN Scale Issuer
Credit Ratings
Long-term Short-term
Bank of Ayudhya Public Co. Ltd. Thailand axA- axA-2
The definitions of ASEAN regional scale issuer credit ratings are available in
the Criteria section of Standard & Poor's public Web site
www.standardandpoors.com and within "Standard & Poor's Ratings Definitions"
published on RatingsDirect. The ASEAN ratings reflect our current opinion of
the overall creditworthiness of a bank ("obligor") with respect to a specific
debt, bond, lease, commercial paper program, certificate of deposit, or other
financial instrument ("obligation") relative to the creditworthiness of other
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) obligors with respect to their
own financial obligations.
An obligor rated 'axAA' differs from the highest-rated obligors only to a
small degree, and has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments
relative to that of other ASEAN obligors.
An obligor rated 'axA' is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse
effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than
higher-rated obligors. Still, the obligor has a moderately strong
capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other
ASEAN obligors.
An obligor rated 'axBBB' has a reasonably adequate capacity to meet its
financial commitments relative to that of other ASEAN obligors. However,
adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to
lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial
commitments.
A regional scale differs from the global and national scale in terms of the
basis of comparison (see article listed below). Regional scale ratings are
based primarily on credit risk comparisons within a specific region, while
global scale ratings are based on global comparisons, and national scale
ratings are based on comparison within a domestic context. Therefore, regional
scale ratings enable relative comparison of credit risks within and across a
region.
RELATED RESEARCH
"Credit FAQ: ASEAN Regional Credit Rating Scale Explained," published on
RatingsDirect on May 2, 2009.
Complete ratings information is available to RatingsDirect subscribers at
www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found
on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your
preferred country or region, then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed
by Find a Rating.
Analytic services provided by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (Ratings Services) are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of ratings opinions. The credit ratings and observations contained herein are solely statements of opinion and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or make any other investment decisions. Accordingly, any user of the information contained herein should not rely on any credit rating or other opinion contained herein in making any investment decision. Ratings are based on information received by Ratings Services. Other divisions of Standard & Poor's may have information that is not available to Ratings Services. Standard & Poor's has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received during the ratings process.
Ratings Services receives compensation for its ratings. Such compensation is normally paid either by the issuers of such securities or third parties participating in marketing the securities. While Standard & Poor's reserves the right to disseminate the rating, it receives no payment for doing so, except for subscriptions to its publications. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees.
