DBRS Assigns Provisional Rating of AAA to SunTrust Bank’s FDIC Guaranteed Notes Issuance

DBRS has today assigned a provisional rating of AAA to the $3.0 billion of Senior Bank Notes issued in two tranches by SunTrust Bank: the $2.25 billion 3.00% Senior Bank Notes Due November 2011 and the $750 million Three-Month LIBOR Senior Bank Notes Due December 2010 (collectively, the Notes). The provisional AAA rating is based on the explicit guarantee provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), which is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Under the TLGP, the FDIC guarantees payment of qualifying debt issued by eligible U.S. bank holding companies, such as SunTrust Banks, Inc.

The AAA rating reflects DBRS’s opinion as to the guarantor’s ability to honor the guarantee as determined by internal assessment of the sovereign. All other debt ratings, including SunTrust Bank’s AA (low) Deposits & Senior Debt rating, remain at their current levels. All long-term non-guaranteed ratings have a Stable trend.

Finalization of the rating is contingent upon receipt of final documents conforming to information already received.

Note:
The applicable methodology is Rating Banks and Bank Holding Companies Operating in the United States, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

This is a Corporate (Financial Institutions) rating.