Fitch Ratings Affirms TPref Funding I, Ltd.

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings affirms three classes of notes issued by TPref Funding I, Ltd., (TPref I). These affirmations are the result of Fitch's review process. The following rating actions are effective immediately:

E[acute accent]-- $211,536,520 class A-1 senior notes affirm at 'AAA';

E[acute accent]-- $100,000,000 class A-2 senior notes affirm at 'AAA';

E[acute accent]-- $201,000,000 class B senior subordinate notes affirm at 'A-'.

E[acute accent]TPref I is a collateralized debt obligation (CDO), which closed July 11, 2002. TPref I is a static pool composed of bank and thrift trust preferred securities. Included in this review, Fitch performed a full analysis of the collateral included in the portfolio, and re-scored each institution using the Fitch Bank Scoring Model. E[acute accent]Since the last rating action on Feb. 6, 2004, the collateral has continued to perform, with only one deferring asset in the portfolio. The deferring asset, which represents 1.83% of the portfolio, is currently deferring interest payments which caused cash flows that would have been available to the income noteholders to be trapped and used to redeem the senior notes. An amount equal to the full balance of the deferring security has now been redeemed, and cash flows are no longer being diverted away from the income noteholders. To date, 4.71% of the class A-1 senior notes have been redeemed, reducing the outstanding balance by over $10.4 million. In addition, two institutions totaling 4.38% of the initial portfolio have been acquired by separate institutions not previously included in the portfolio, allowing obligor exposure to remain unchanged. E[acute accent]The senior and subordinate overcollateralization (OC) ratios have improved slightly since the last rating action and are both in compliance with their performance test triggers of 125% and 104.7% respectively. The senior OC ratio has improved from 171.4% to 172.6%, and the subordinate OC ratio has improved from 104.4% to 104.9%. The subordinate OC test had been failing in previous periods, but has now cured due to the principal redemption feature included in the structure of the deal. E[acute accent]As a result of this analysis, Fitch has determined that the current ratings assigned to the senior and mezzanine notes still reflect the current risk to noteholders. Fitch will continue to monitor and review this transaction for future rating adjustments. Additional deal information and historical data are available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com. For more information on Fitch's approach to rating CDOs of trust preferred securities, see the special report, 'Rating Criteria for U.S. Bank and Insurance Trust Preferred CDOs' dated Feb. 2, 2005 and also available at www.fitchratings.com.