Fitch to Revise City of Houston, TX Combined Utility System First Lien 2004B Revs to 'AA-/F1+'.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- On the effective dates of the proposed conversion of the $653,325,000 City of Houston, TX Combined Utility First Lien revenue bonds, series 2004B, (to be redesignated into five subseries upon conversion) from the current auction rate insured mode to a weekly variable rate mode, Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. will upgrade the long-term rating assigned to the bonds to 'AA-' and assign a short-term rating of 'F1+'. The revision of the rating for all five subseries of the series 2004B bonds is in connection with the conversion of the bonds from auction rate, a release of the XL Capital bond insurance policy currently supporting the bonds, and the provision of a direct-pay letter of credit (LOC LOC - lines of code ) severally issued by Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. , National Association, The Bank of New York The Bank of New York, abbrieviated to BNY, was a global financial services company that existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007.[1] The bank now continues under the new name of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. , Dexia Credit Local, acting through its New York Branch, and State Street Bank and Trust Company The State Street Bank and Trust Company is a bank. It was a subsidiary of the State Street Corporation, until it sold off the retail banking portion of this unit in 1999 to Citizens Financial Group (a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland), of Providence, RI. . The bonds will be subject to a mandatory tender on their respective conversion dates, the first of which will occur on Apr. 8, 2008 for the $225,000,000 subseries 2004B-1 bonds. The four additional subseries are expected to be converted as follows: $135,550,000 subseries B-2, converting on April 10, 2008; $75,000,000 subseries B-3, converting on April 11, 2008; $75,000,000 subseries B-4, converting on April 11, 2008; and $142,775,000 subseries B-5, converting on April 14, 2008. On each of the designated conversion dates, Fitch will upgrade the long-term rating assigned to the bonds of the related subseries to 'AA-' from 'A+' (the current long-term 'A+' rating assigned to the bonds reflects the higher of the rating assigned to the City of Houston's Combined Utility System and XL Capital). In addition, Fitch will assign a short-term rating of 'F1+' to the bonds. The revised 'AA-/F1+' rating assigned to the bonds will be based solely on the LOC securing the bonds. Following conversion, the remarketing agents for the bonds will be Banc of America Securities LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control for subseries 2004B-1 bonds, UBS UBS Union Bank of Switzerland UBS United Bible Societies UBS United Blood Services UBS United Buying Service UBS Used Bookstore UBS University Business Services UBS Universal Building Society (UK) UBS Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System Securities LLC for subseries 2004B-2 and 2004B-3 bonds, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. for subseries 2004B-4 and 2004B-5 bonds. The LOC provides full coverage of principal plus an amount equal to 50 days of interest computed at a maximum rate of 10%, based on a year of 365 days, and purchase price for tendered bonds. The rating will expire on the earliest of: (i) Apr. 8, 2010, the stated expiration date of the LOC, unless such date is extended; (ii) any prior termination of the LOC; or (iii) the defeasance of the bonds. Upon their respective conversion dates, the bonds will all bear interest in a weekly rate mode. Following conversion, the bonds may also be converted to a daily, commercial paper, auction, term or fixed interest rate mode in accordance with the terms of the documents. While bonds bear interest in the weekly rate mode, interest payments are paid on the first business day of each month, commencing May 1, 2008, and bondholders have the option to tender their bonds on any business day, with the requisite prior notice to the remarketing agent and the tender agent. The bonds are subject to mandatory tender on (1) conversion of the interest rate mode, (2) on the purchase date while in the commercial paper rate or term rate modes, and (3) the expiration, termination or substitution of the LOC. Optional and mandatory redemption provisions also apply to the bonds. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public web 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 Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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