Statement From FSA Holdings on Fitch`s Downgrade of FSA Inc. From AAA To AA+ And FSA Holdings From AA TO A+ Rating Watch Negative

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. (FSA Holdings or the Company)
reported today that Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has downgraded its monoline bond
insurance subsidiary Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) from AAA to AA+ and
FSA Holdings from AA to A+. The ratings remain on Rating Watch Negative.

In its commentary, Fitch says today`s rating action primarily reflects Fitch`s
view of the residual risks retained by FSA following the transfer of its
Financial Products (FP) business to parent Dexia. As part of its sale of FSA to
Assured Guaranty Ltd. (Assured), Dexia has agreed to retain FSA`s FP business
and to protect FSA/Assured from the credit and liquidity risks associated with
this business line through various liquidity lines, guarantees and collateral
posting mechanisms. In addition, certain of Dexia`s obligations will be
guaranteed on a several basis by the governments of Belgium (rated AA+) and
France (rated AAA). As a consequence, Fitch believes the risk to FSA of the FP
business is consistent with a AA+ rating while the financial products portfolio
runs off. Fitch recognizes that FSA remains well-capitalized at its current
ratings level, and the transaction is expected to be capital accretive for the
merger with Assured.

Robert P. Cochran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FSA Holdings and FSA,
said," We want to underscore that Fitch`s downgrade of FSA to AA+ results from
its capping FSA`s rating at a level consistent with the Belgium sovereign
guarantee provided in the structure for transferring the FP business to Dexia.
Once the planned acquisition of FSA is complete, FSA will be well capitalized
and strongly protected from the Financial Products exposure, which is now
approximately $13 billion and will diminish substantially over the next several
years."

Fitch noted that it would resolve the Rating Watch status once the acquisition
of FSA was completed, and that, if FSA were to be downgraded in the future,
FSA`s IFS rating would be unlikely to fall below AA.

THE COMPANY

Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. (the Company), headquartered in New
York City, is a holding company whose affiliates provide financial guarantees to
clients in the global public finance markets. The principal operating subsidiary
is Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA). The Company is a member of the Dexia
group.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The Company relies on the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This safe harbor requires
that the Company specify important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or
on behalf of the Company. Accordingly, forward-looking statements by the Company
and its affiliates are qualified by reference to the following cautionary
statements. In its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, reports
to shareholders, press releases and other written and oral communications, the
Company from time to time makes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to:

* projections of revenues, income (or loss), earnings (or loss) per share,
dividends, market share or other financial forecasts;
* statements of plans, objectives or goals of the Company or its management,
including those related to growth in adjusted book value or return on equity;
and
* expected losses on, and adequacy of loss reserves for, insured transactions.

Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends" and "plans" and
future and conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "could" and
"may" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.

The Company cautions that a number of important factors could cause actual
results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates
and intentions expressed in forward-looking statements made by the Company.
These factors include:

* the risks discussed in the Company`s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q under "Item 1A. Risk Factors";
* changes in capital requirements or other criteria of securities rating
agencies applicable to FSA;
* Potential for reduced market appetite for FSA-insured securities due to
potential ratings downgrade from Fitch, Moody`s Investors Service, Inc. and
Standard & Poor`s Ratings Services;
* the change in creditworthiness of, or the quality of support provided by, the
Company`s parent Dexia, on whom the Company relies for credit and liquidity
support of the FP business;
* market conditions, including the credit quality and market pricing of
securities issued;
* competitive forces, including the conduct of other financial guaranty insurers
and competition from alternative executions;
* changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations applicable to the Company,
its competitors or its clients;
* impairments to assets in the FP Investment Portfolio proving to be
"other-than-temporary" rather than temporary, resulting in reductions in net
income;
* changes in accounting principles or practices that may affect the Company`s
reported financial results;
* an economic downturn or other economic conditions (such as a rising interest
rate environment) adversely affecting transactions insured by FSA or its General
Investment Portfolio;
* inadequacy of reserves established by the Company for losses and loss
adjustment expenses;
* disruptions in cash flow on FSA-insured structured transactions attributable
to legal challenges to such structures;
* downgrade or default of one or more of FSA's reinsurers;
* capacity limitations that may impair investor appetite for FSA-insured
obligations;
* market spreads and pricing on CDS exposures, which may result in gain or loss
due to mark-to-market accounting requirements;
* prepayment speeds on FSA-insured asset-backed securities and other factors
that may influence the amount of installment premiums paid to FSA; and
* other factors, most of which are beyond the Company`s control.

The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not
exhaustive. In any event, such forward-looking statements made by the Company
speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise such statements as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.
Press Relations
Betsy Castenir, 212-339-3424
Investor Relations
Robert Tucker, 212-339-0861

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