Fitch Ratings Affirms Tropic CDO II, Ltd.

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

-- $145,000,000 class A-1L notes affirmed at 'AAA';

-- $50,000,000 class A-2L notes affirmed at 'AAA';

-- $35,000,000 class A-3L notes affirmed at 'AA';

-- $30,000,000 class A-4 notes affirmed at 'A-';

-- $38,000,000 class A-4L notes affirmed at 'A-';

-- $15,000,000 class B-1L notes affirmed at 'BBB'.

Tropic II is a collateralized debt obligation (CDO), which closed Oct. 15, 2003. Tropic II 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.

Since closing, the collateral has continued to perform, with only slight deterioration in the weighted average bank scores as determined by the Fitch Bank Scoring Model. As of the trustee report dated Oct. 17, 2005, the senior and subordinate overcollateralization ratios remained unchanged at 145.6% and 107%, respectively, and are both currently passing their performance test triggers of 120% and 104%. There have been no defaulted or deferring securities in the portfolio to date.

The ratings on the class A-1L, A-2L, and A-3L notes address the likelihood that investors will receive timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal by the stated maturity date. The ratings on the class A-4, A-4L, and B-1L notes address the likelihood that investors will receive ultimate payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal by the stated maturity date.

As a result of this analysis, Fitch has determined that the current ratings assigned to the class A and B 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 available on Fitch's web site.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use 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 are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.