DBRS Assigns Provisional Rating of AAA to PNC Funding Corp.’s FDIC Guaranteed Notes Issuance

DBRS has today assigned a provisional rating of AAA to the $2.9 billion of Senior Notes issued in three tranches by PNC Funding Corp.: the $2.0 billion of 2.30% Senior Notes due June 22, 2012, the $500 million 1.875% Senior Notes due June 22, 2011 and the $400 million Three-Month LIBOR Senior Notes due June 22, 2011. The PNC notes are being issued pursuant to a Prospectus dated January 10, 2007 and a Preliminary Prospectus Supplement dated December 17, 2008.

All note issuances are unconditionally guaranteed by PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. The provisional AAA ratings are 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 PNC Financial Services Group, 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 PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.’s A (high) Issuer & Senior Debt, remain at their current levels. All long-term non-guaranteed ratings remain Under Review with Negative Implications, where they were placed on October 24, 2008.

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

Note:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

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.