Early in the week Moody's Investor Service announced that with the passing of the appropriation bill, which gives the federal government unlimited borrowing powers to finance any claims made under its Guarantee Scheme for Large Deposits and Wholesale Funding, it will assign 'Aaa/P-1' ratings to securities issued under the scheme once an Eligibility Certificate has been issued.Moody's went on to note that the Scheme provides positive support for the Bank Financial Strength Ratings (BFSR) of eligible institutions, as well as for their non-guaranteed debt and deposit ratings. This was a theme also picked up by Fitch Ratings. Fitch upgraded the support ratings that it assigns to ANZ, CBA, NAB and WBC to '1' from '2'. Fitch said a support rating of '1' denotes "an extremely high probability of support" and the move to this level reflects the actions of the government to preserve the financial stability of the major banks due to their systemic importance. Moody's also reiterated that the Guarantee Scheme does not threaten the ratings assigned to the government. Australia's low debt load provides sufficient flexibility to fund guarantee payments and the likelihood of large scale activation of guarantees, such that would impair the government's balance sheet, is remote. Standard & Poor's also announced that they would assign 'AAA/A-1+' ratings to eligible securities.With the acquisition of St George Bank by Westpac becoming official last Monday, Moody's moved its long-term debt and deposit ratings on St George to 'Aa1' from 'Aa2', in line with those it assigns to Westpac. The BFSR assigned to St George of 'B' remains under review but the review status was changed to possible downgrade, from direction uncertain. Moody's is of the view that management may decide to run the bank with weaker financial metrics than the parent until the two banks are physically merged.The 'Aa3' Insurance Financial Strength Rating assigned to St George Insurance Australia Pty Ltd was affirmed with a stable outlook.Fitch also took the opportunity to align its ratings on St George with those assigned to Westpac: 'AA-/F1+' with a stable outlook and individual and support ratings of 'B' and '1'. In addition and consistent with this action, Fitch upgraded the ratings on the Class C notes issued by the Crusade Global Trusts No.1 & 2 of 2003 to 'AA-' from 'A+'. With St George providing the liquidity facility to these trusts, the ratings of the Class C notes had been previously constrained.In other changes made to bank ratings, Moody's revised the outlook on ASB Bank's BFSR of 'B-' to negative from stable in response to the evolution of the bank's business mix away from low risk mortgages, at a time when the operating environment is deteriorating. Moody's said the continual weakening of global credit markets and the technical recession in New Zealand will likely result in rising asset impairment.Moody's also revised the outlook on Deutsche Bank's 'Aa1' long-term debt and deposit ratings and 'B' BFSR to negative, citing the negative impact on revenue and earnings of the persistent turmoil in international