CITI/BAC news

UPDATE 1-S&P raises some ratings on BofA, Citi

* BofA, Citi's stand-alone creditworthiness upgraded 
    * Both upgraded one notch by S&P 
    
    CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec 15 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's 
raised on Wednesday the stand-alone credit ratings for Bank of 
America Corp  and Citigroup Inc  one notch, citing 
that both the holding company and subsidiary banks are showing 
healthier balance sheets. 
    The ratings agency raised both Citigroup and Bank of 
America's holding companies stand-alone credit rating to "bbb+" 
from "bbb" and the stand-alone rating for the banks themselves 
to "a-" from "bbb+". 
    S&P cited improvement in Citi's earnings as the reason 
behind its upgrade, while BofA is showing lower credit costs 
and loan losses. 
    Stand-alone credit ratings reflect creditworthiness as a 
separate entity, independent of any parent or subsidiary 
companies. 
    S&P also raised the hybrid rating of Bank of America's 
holding company to "BB+" from "BB" and the rating of the bank 
to "BBB-" from "BB+". 
    Citigroup's junior debt rating was raised to "BB+" from 
"BB-" and the preferred stock rating was bumped to "BB+" from 
"C". 

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