Fitch Group Creates New Division, Fitch Solutions

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--Fitch Group, a subsidiary of Fimalac S.A, and the parent company
of Fitch Ratings and Algorithmics, has created a new division, Fitch
Solutions, that will consolidate all non-rating products and services,
product development, credit training, and the firm's product sales
force into a single entity. This division reinforces and furthers the
independence of the ratings and analytics of Fitch Ratings and creates
an entity with a singular focus on the development of fixed income
products and services.

"While we always have had strong convictions in our current
practices and policies to protect the independence and integrity of
our ratings, we believe it is clearer to have even greater separation
of our analytical activities from our commercial activities," said
Stephen W. Joynt, Chief Executive Officer, Fitch Group. "Moreover,
this structure creates a more comprehensive and focused content and
distribution platform for our market offerings."

While current Fitch Ratings content will form the core of the
initial offerings of Fitch Solutions, the division will also be
charged with bringing to market a wide range of data, analytics and
related services. Fitch Solutions will also incorporate the teams
supporting established products such Fitch Research, the Fitch CDS
Pricing Service, Market Implied Ratings, and the Risk Analytics
Platform for Credit Derivatives (RAP CD). Fitch Solutions will also
house the organizations' Global Sales group. Fitch Training, the
company's credit training division for global financial institutions
will also be a part of Fitch Solutions.

Additionally, the provision of global structured credit ratings as
issued by Fitch subsidiary Derivative Fitch will be folded back into
Fitch Ratings. "While the needs for market risk analysis which led to
the creation of Derivative Fitch remain, we believe we can best meet
the demands for complementary products and services via Fitch
Solutions, while consistently providing structured credit ratings
directly under the Fitch Ratings umbrella. We remain committed to
enhancing the understanding of risk and improving transparency in the
structured credit markets," said Joynt.

About Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings is a global ratings agency committed to providing
the world's markets with independent, timely and prospective credit
opinions. With 49 offices worldwide, Fitch Ratings' global expertise
spans across capital markets in more than 100 countries. Fitch Ratings
is dual- headquartered in New York and London, and is part of the
Fitch Group. The Fitch Group is a majority -owned subsidiary of
Fimalac, S.A., headquartered in Paris, France.

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.

Fitch Ratings
James Jockle, +1-212-908-0547 (Media Relations, New York)

Copyright Business Wire 2008