We have assigned our preliminary 'AAA' credit rating to AEGON Bank's soft-bullet covered bond program and its inaugural public issuance. S&P Global Ratings' stable outlook on the preliminary ratings on AEGON Bank N.V.'s soft-bullet covered bonds reflects the fact that the preliminary ratings on the covered bonds benefit from four unused notches of support under our covered bonds criteria. This means that the preliminary ratings on the covered bonds would be unaffected if we were to lower our long-term issuer credit rating (ICR) on the issuer by up to four notches, all else being equal.