Moody's cuts Standard Bank Plc issuer rating to Baa3

LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Bank Plc:

* Moody's downgrades the holding company's issuer rating of the unit of South Africa's Standard Bank Group by two notches to Baa3

* Moody's downgrades deposit rating to Baa2 from A3, subordinated rating to Baa3 from Baa1

* Moody's downgrades Standard Bank junior subordinated rating to Ba1 from Baa1, financial strength rating to D from C- * Moody's says downgrade reflects exposure to BRIC countries, although bank not suffered major losses on them so far