Pohjola Pankki Oyj - Company Announcement

Moody's Downgrades Pohjola and OP-Pohjola Group

Pohjola Bank plc
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
31 May 2012 at 7.20 am (UT +3)

Moody's Downgrades Pohjola and OP-Pohjola Group

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Pohjola Bank plc's debt and deposit
ratings from Aa2 to Aa3, still affirming the rating as very strong, confirmed
Pohjola Bank plc's Prime-1 short-term ratings and C- bank financial strength
rating (BFSR).

Moody's downgraded OP-Pohjola Group's standalone BFSR from B- to C and
downgraded the insurance financial strength rating of Pohjola Insurance Ltd from
A2 to A3.

According to Moody's, the downgrades were primarily driven by high sector
concentration risks, weakened earnings capacity compared with the pre-crisis
period of 2008 and by reliance on market funding. In its review, however,
Moody's notes that recent debt issuances demonstrate that OP-Pohjola Group
continues to benefit from access to a wide investor base. In addition, Moody's
highlights OP-Pohjola Group's relatively good asset quality performance and the
strong rebound of the Finnish economy after a contraction in 2009.

During the last few months, Moody's has reviewed credit ratings of a large
number of European banks. According to the credit rating agency, the underlying
reason for such reviews relates to the deterioration of the European operating
environment, deteriorating creditworthiness of euro-area sovereigns and
challenges caused by capital markets to the banking sector.

Pohjola Bank plc
Carina Geber-Teir
Chief Communications Officer

For more information, please contact
Vesa Aho, CFO, tel. +358 (0)10 252 2336
Elina Ronkanen-Minogue, Senior Vice President, Asset and Liability Management,
tel. +358 (0)10 252 8767

Distribution
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd
LSE London Stock Exchange
SIX Swiss Exchange
Major media
op.fi and pohjola.com

Pohjola Bank plc is a Finnish financial services group which provides its
customers with banking, non-life insurance and asset management services. Our
mission is to promote the prosperity, security and wellbeing of our customers.
Profitable growth and an increase in company value form our key objectives.
Pohjola Group serves corporate customers in Finland and abroad by providing an
extensive range of financial, investment, cash-management and non-life insurance
services. We offer non-life insurance and private banking services to corporate
customers. Pohjola Series A shares have been listed on the Large Cap List of the
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki since 1989. The number of shareholders totals around
34,000. Pohjola's consolidated earnings before tax came to 258 million euros in
2011 and the balance sheet total amounted to 41 billion euros on 31 December
2011. Pohjola is part of OP-Pohjola Group, the leading financial services group
in Finland with over four million customers.


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