Fitch: Straight-A Funding Bolstering Stagnant New U.S. ABCP Issuance

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Encompassing 5% of total U.S. ABCP outstandings since its launch, the Straight-A
Funding program figures to encompass a larger piece of the new issuance pie over
time, according to Fitch Ratings in the latest edition of 'ABCP Paper Trail'.

Since the program officially began funding on May 11, Straight-A (rated 'F1+' by
Fitch) has picked up steam relatively quickly. Straight-A outstandings stand at
approximately $25 billion, which according to Director Kevin Corrigan, 'shows an
immediate and definite investor appetite for the program'. 'The SEC's recent
no-action letter on the treatment of Straight-A paper in money funds should
increase demand and may help bolster total U.S. ABCP outstandings, which have
been in decline so far this year,' said Corrigan.

The emergence of Straight-A should help alleviate funding pressures for ABCP.
Through the middle of this month, U.S. ABCP outstandings were down 26% ($520
billion) from the beginning of 2009 and off 57% from their July 2007 high-water
mark of $1.2 trillion. Factors likely to continue affecting the ABCP landscape
through the balance of 2009 include the deterioration of the economic
environment, the potential for further counterparty downgrades.

'The ABCP Paper Trail' is available at www.fitchratings.com under the following
sectors:

Sectors >> Structured Finance >> ABS >> Research

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, New York
Kevin Corrigan, +1-212-908-9156
or
Sandro Scenga, +1-212-908-0278 (Media Relations)
sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009