Fitch Ratings: ABCP Market Posts 2001 Record Highs Amid Disruptions.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2002

Despite the unprecedented events of last year, the year 2001 saw record-high outstandings for the ABCP market, according to Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency.

In the latest installment of its semiannual Trends & Advances piece, Fitch discusses the first substantial ABCP market disruption brought on largely by the events of Sept. 11, and the issues it presented to the market.

'Operations and vital communications systems of several key ABCP market players were severely impaired and other participants were evacuated from their buildings on Sept. 11, creating a disruption the likes of which the ABCP market had not previously witnessed,' said David D. Hartung, Esq., Director, Fitch.

Other events affecting the market included Japan's long-term local and foreign currency sovereign ratings downgrades by Fitch, which led to subsequent rating downgrades of several Japanese bank-sponsored conduits, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s (FDIC) revisions to rules governing banks' capital treatment for securitization transactions, which will affect the amount of capital held by institutions providing credit enhancement to ABCP programs. Despite these developments, the ABCP market rose to unprecedented growth, albeit by a smaller percentage than prior years.

'The ABCP market posted record-high outstandings of $745.3 billion as of Dec. 31, 2001, representing more than half of the total U.S. commercial paper market's outstandings at year's end,' said Darryl J. Osojnak, Esq., Senior Director. 'However, on a percentage basis, the ABCP market increased by only 16% in 2001, as opposed to the market's 2000 growth rate of 23%.'

To obtain a copy of 'ABCP: Trends & Advances, Vol. VII', please visit Fitch's web site at 'www.fitchratings.com' or contact Market Services at 800/853-4824.