Moody's affirms Fortis, Banco Santander

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the ratings of the members of the consortium, including the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Banco Santander and the Fortis Group, following the closing of their offer for ABN Amro. Moody's also said it affirmed ABN Amro's Aa2/prime-1 debt and deposit ratings, changing the outlook on the long-term debt ratings to developing from stable. ABN Amro's B- bank financial strength rating was affirmed but its outlook was changed to stable from positive. The outlook on all other ABN Amro ratings is stable.

The ratings of Banco Santander (senior at Aa1/prime-1/B) and all of the ratings of the Fortis Group and Fortis Bank were affirmed at their current levels with stable outlook. Fortis SA and Fortis NV have issuer ratings of Aa3 with stable outlook while the main funding holding companies of the group have senior/subordinated and preferred debt ratings of Aa3/A1/A2 with stable outlook. Fortis Bank is rated Aa2/prime-1/B- with stable outlook.

In affirming the ratings, Moody's noted Fortis' good strategic fit with ABN Amro's businesses to be acquired and the expected reasonable impact of the funding package on the group's capital structure, capitalization and fundamentals.

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