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DJ - S&PBulletin: Prudential Plans Do Not Affect AIA Aust. Rtg

The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's: MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) March 11, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating on AIA Australia Ltd. (AIAA; A+/Negative/--) is not affected by the announcement by Prudential PLC (A+/Watch Neg/A-1) to acquire AIG's Asian subsidiaries. The rating and outlook on AIAA reflect those on its guarantor, American Home Assurance Co. (A+/Negative/--). Currently, the guarantee is still in place and is unaffected by the acquisition announcement. Should the guarantee be removed, AIAA's rating would likely be lowered to 'A' and placed on CreditWatch Developing, reflecting its "strategic importance" to its Asia-based parent American International Assurance Co. Ltd. (AIA; A+/Watch Dev/--). The strategic importance, rather than core status, reflects AIAA's geographic separation from Asia and its relatively small size compared with the other Asian operations. The rating on AIAA reflects its moderate business franchise in Australia, solid group business premium growth in the past year, and conservative investment and financial structure. Factors offsetting these strengths are the company's small absolute size and some uncertainty around traction of the AIAA brand in the wake of perceived AIG brand damage and the recent change in ownership. Standard & Poor's (Australia) Pty. Ltd. holds Australian financial services licence number 337565 under the Corporations Act 2001. Standard & Poor's credit ratings and related research are not intended for and must not be distributed to any person in Australia other than a wholesale client (as defined in Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act). Primary Credit Analyst: Cindy Huang, Melbourne (61) 3-9631-2185; cindy_huang@standardandpoors.com Secondary Credit Analyst: Michael Vine, Melbourne (61) 3-9631-2102; michael_vine@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. 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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2010 00:55 ET (05:55 GMT)