Fitch Takes Rtg Actions on National Scale Rtgs in Latin America.

CHICAGO -- During the week of June 28, 2004 through July 2, 2004, Fitch has changed the following ratings on the national scale in Latin America:

Corporates:

Metrovias (Argentina)

-- Fitch has downgraded the rating of Metrovias shares to 4 from 3.

Financial Institutions:

HSBC Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico)

-- Fitch has upgraded the short and long term national scale ratings of HSBC to 'F1+(mex)' and 'AAA(mex)' from 'F1(mex)' and 'A+(mex)', respectively.

Insurance:

Seguros Provida S.A. (Bolivia)

-- Fitch has upgraded the above Insurance company's rating to 'A-(bol)' from 'BBB+(bol)'.

Mutual Funds

Gainvest Fidex (Argentina)

-- Fitch has upgraded the rating of the above mutual fund to 'A+(arg)' from 'A-(arg)'.

Premier Acciones (Argentina)

-- Fitch has assigned a rating of 'A-(arg)' to the above mutual fund.

Fima Obligaciones Negociables (Argentina)

-- Fitch has assigned a rating of 'A-(arg)' to the above mutual fund.

Public Finance:

Municipio de Metepec, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

-- Fitch has assigned a rating of 'A+(mex)' to the above municipality.

Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosi (Mexico)

-- Fitch has downgraded the rating for Estado Libre y Soberano to 'BBB(mex)' from 'A-(mex)'. The Rating Outlook is Evolving.

Structured Finance:

Pao de Acucar Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditorios (FIDC) - Series A (Brazil)

-- Fitch has assigned a new rating of 'AA(bra)' to the additional issuance of BRL 120,000,000 to the 2003 Series A Pao de Acucar FIDC securitization. The new total size of the deal is BRL 425 million.

Tarjeta Nevada I (Argentina)

-- Fitch has assigned ratings to the two tranches of the above structured securitization of consumer loans; the ratings are as follows:

ARS 12,000,000 'AA(arg)'

ARS 1,500,000 'BBB+(arg)'

Secubono IV (Argentina)

-- Fitch has assigned ratings to the two tranches of the above structured securitization of consumer loans; the ratings are as follows:

ARS 17,895,539 'AA-(arg)'

ARS 2,105,358 'BBB+(arg)'

SMSV I (Argentina)

-- Fitch has assigned a rating of 'AA(arg)' to the above structured securitization of consumer loans for ARS 12,000,000.

National ratings are an assessment of credit quality relative to the rating of the 'best' credit risk in a country. This 'best' risk will normally, although not always, be assigned to all financial commitments issued or guaranteed by the sovereign state. Therefore, a given national scale rating implies a different level of risk compared to the same international scale rating.

Additional information on these rating actions can be found on:

Fitch Ratings 'www.fitchratings.com'

Fitch Argentina 'www.fitchratings.com.ar'

Fitch Bolivia 'www.fitchratings.com.bo'

Fitch Brazil 'www.fitchratings.com.br'

Fitch Central America 'www.fitchca.com'

Fitch Chile 'www.fitchratings.cl'

Fitch Dominican Republic 'www.fitchdominicana.com'

Fitch Mexico 'www.fitchmexico.com'

Fitch Venezuela 'www.fitchvenezuela.com'