St.George Bank Stays On CreditWatch Positive After Revised Merger Proposal With Westpac Sep 08

Standard & Poors, September 2008

Abstract
MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) Sept. 8, 2008--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its 'A+' ratings on St.George Bank Ltd. and the bank's fully owned lenders' mortgage insurer, St.George Insurance Australia Pty Ltd. (SGIA), remain on CreditWatch with positive implications after St.George and Westpac Banking Corp. (AA/Stable/A-1+) announced a revised merger proposal earlier today. The ratings were initially placed on CreditWatch positive on May 13, 2008, following Westpac's all-scrip merger bid for St.George. "The proposed merger revisions do not affect our previous expectation that the ratings on St.George are likely to be equalized with the ratings on Westpac if the merger succeeds, as we expect St.George to become a core subsidiary of the Westpac group," Standard & Poor's credit...

Companies mentioned in this report are:
- St.George Bank Ltd.
- Westpac Banking Corp.
- St.George Insurance Australia Pty Ltd.

Action: CreditWatch Update

Standard and Poors RatingsXpress Credit Research provides in-depth coverage of international corporates, financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, sovereigns and structured finance programs. RatingsXpress Credit Research lets users determine the credit rating of holdings and identify key factors underlying an issuer's creditworthiness, distinguishes the different risk exposures for new and existing deals, and provides an understanding of how their analysts interpret key regulatory, political and environmental events and their economic impact.

Research type: News
This product is a is a brief one-page announcement of no more than 500 words with a quote from the analyst. It is media and investor focused with no accompanying commentary article.

- St.George Bank Ltd.
- Westpac Banking Corp.
- St.George Insurance Australia Pty Ltd.

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