Fitch Recognized at NFMA's Annual National Conference; Only Agency to Win 2 of 6 Awards.

CHICAGO -- The U.S. Public Finance team at Fitch Ratings received two prominent awards for its influence and extraordinary contributions in the municipal market at this year's National Federation of Municipal Analysts conference held in New Orleans last week.

Ruth Corson Maynard, Managing Consultant in Fitch's State Ratings Group, received the NFMA's 2005 career achievement award and Peter Stettler, Senior Director in Fitch's transportation group, received the award for excellence.

'I am very pleased the NFMA recognized Ruth and Peter,' said Michael Belsky, Group Managing Director, U.S. Public Finance, Fitch Ratings. 'They are highly regarded in the municipal market for their exceptional expertise, insights and accomplishments and we are very proud to have them as part of Fitch's U.S. Public Finance Team.'

The NFMA said that Ms. Corson's far-reaching influence in public finance, over the past three decades, coupled with her extensive understanding and knowledge of credit analysis provide a source of inspiration to all members of the municipal analyst profession and that the wealth of information that Mr. Stettler contributes to investors and his dedication to the pursuit of credit analysis make him a highly respected and distinguished resource in the municipal market.

Ms. Corson is responsible for Fitch's state and tax-supported rating analysis, principally directed to state and state agency credits. Prior to joining Fitch in 1989, she served as director of municipal research at E.F. Hutton, an assistant Vice President for municipal and Canadian analysis at Moody's Investors Service, and handled Eurodollar analysis for Moody's Investors, Ltd. in London. Ruth started her municipal research career at Dun & Bradstreet. She was a founding member and formerly on the Board of Governors of the NFMA, where she also edited its Disclosure Guidelines.

Mr. Stettler is responsible for Fitch's national airport-and port-related credits. Additionally during his tenure at Fitch, he has also covered tax-backed and revenue-backed issues in the Midwest. Prior to joining Fitch in 1998, he was a Vice President at Everen Securities, Inc., where his responsibilities included researching issues in the tax-backed, transportation, and housing sectors in the primary and secondary markets. Peter is an active member of the NFMA and has served on the Board of Governors and the Committee on Airport Disclosure.