Fitch Affirms Ratings of Lehman Brothers Holdings' Bank Subs.NEW YORK -- Fitch has affirmed the ratings of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s (LBHI) US-based bank subsidiaries, Lehman Brothers Bank FSB (FrontSide Bus) See system bus. FSB - front side bus (LBB LBB Legislative Budget Board LBB Landesbetrieb Liegenschafts- und Baubetreuung LBB Leak Before Break LBB Left Bundle Branch LBB London Borough of Bromley LBB Little Brown Bird (birders slang) LBB Little Black Box ) and Lehman Brothers Commercial Bank (LBCB LBCB Long Beach Community Band ) as outlined below. Ratings are directly linked to the ratings of LBHI, the banks' ultimate parent and risk manager. Fitch has affirmed the following ratings: Lehman Brothers Bank FSB --Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ) at 'AA-'; --Short-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'F1+'; --Individual at 'B'; --Support at '1'; --Long-Term Deposit at 'AA'; --Short-Term Deposit at 'F1+'. Lehman Brothers Commercial Bank --Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'AA-'; --Short-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'F1+'; --Individual at 'B'; --Support at '1'; --Long-Term Deposit at 'AA'; --Short-Term Deposit at 'F1+'. The Outlook is Stable for all ratings. All ratings are directly linked to the ratings of LBHI, and thus to the risk appetite and risk management of LBHI. The banks are utilized as origination and funding platforms with the price risk of assets assumed by LBHI via Master Forward Agreements (MFAs). LBHI has been active in utilizing the bank charters for funding efficiency, which has positively impacted its own liquidity. Support of each of the institutions is provided via the MFAs in place, and is further evidenced by a recent capital injection to LBCB. The positive notching of the banks' deposit ratings reflects US depositors' clear legal preference (i.e., senior ranking to unsecured creditors) in the event of bankruptcy. LBB is a Delaware-based thrift. Total assets were approximately $17.7 billion at Sept. 30, 2007. LBB originates and purchases commercial and residential mortgage loans which are then packaged into CMBS CMBS See: Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities and RMBS RMBS Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities RMBS Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ stock symbol) RMBS Russian Mortgage-Backed Securities securities by parent LBHI. LBB's assets are primarily funded via borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank and brokered CDs. The inherent rate and credit risks of LBB's lending portfolio are minimized via a MFA which allows the bank to put any loan asset (at the bank's original cost) to LBHI at will. LBCB is a Utah-based industrial bank (ILC). Total assets were approximately $6.3 billion at Sept. 30, 2007. LBCB provides commercial and industrial (C&I) and commercial real estate lending (primarily to investment-grade corporations), short-term warehouse lending secured by specific assets, and interest rate derivative An interest rate derivative is a derivative where the underlying asset is the right to pay or receive a (usually notional) amount of money at a given interest rate. The interest rate derivatives market is the largest derivatives market in the world. products (primarily to municipalities and quasi-government entities) to Lehman clients. LBCB's assets are primarily funded via brokered CDs. The inherent rate and credit risks of LBCB's lending portfolio are minimized via a MFA which allows the bank to put any loan asset (at the bank's original cost) to an LBHI-guaranteed affiliate at will. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria, and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance, and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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