Standard and Poor's Corp said themerger agreement between Fleet Financial Group and Norstar
Bancorp Inc would not affect the firms' current ratings because
the merger cannot take place until July 1988.
    It said any rating change until then would depend on each
individual bank holding company. S and P noted that the
combined entity would have assets of more than 24 billion dlrs,
making it one of the largest U.S. bankholding companies.
    Fleet has A-plus senior debt, A subordinated debt and A-1
commercial paper. Norstar carries AA senior debt, AA-minus
subordinated debt, A-plus preferred stock and A-1-plus paper.
 Reuter
