OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it assigned its 'BBB+' rating to the proposed senior unsecured fixed-rate loan participation notes of up to ?408 million (US$515 million) to be issued by, but without recourse to, Dresdner Bank AG (A+/Stable/A-1) to fund a loan to the City of Moscow (foreign currency BBB+/Stable/--). The notes will be issued with the maturity between 10 and 15 years.

The bank will not provide any payment guarantees, and debt servicing on the notes depends solely on the City of Moscow's ability to repay the loan. Moscow will use the proceeds to finance its budget expenditures.

The notes will be listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange.

Lead managers for the issue are Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd.