Pohjola Pankki Oyj - Company Announcement

Fitch confirms OP-Pohjola Group's and Pohjola Bank's credit ratings

Pohjola Bank plc		                                                              
Company release                                                                 
Release category: Stock Exchange Release                                        
29 July 2009 at 6.40 pm                                                         

Fitch confirms OP-Pohjola Group's and Pohjola Bank's credit ratings             

Fitch Ratings today confirmed the credit ratings of OP-Pohjola Group and Pohjola
Bank plc. The credit ratings remained unchanged, but the outlook for long-term  
debt was changed from stable to negative.                                       

Fitch has affirmed the ratings of OP-Pohjola Group and Pohjola Bank's at        
Long-term Issuer Default (IDR) AA-, short term IDR F1+. The Outlooks on the
Long-term IDRs have been changed to Negative because of the potential effects
of the sharp downturn in the Finnish economy on Pohjola Bank and the entire
OP-Pohjola Group, which operate mainly in Finland. 


Pohjola Bank plc                                                                
Carina Geber-Teir                                                               
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications                                 

For further information, contact Jouko Pölönen, CFO, tel. +358 (0)10 252 3405 or
Tarja Ollilainen, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. +358 (0)10 252
4494                                                                            

Distribution                                                                    
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki                                                             
London Stock Exchange                                                           
SWX Swiss Exchange                                                              
Major media                                                                     
op.fi and pohjola.fi