Fitch Teleconference: Global Credit Derivatives Survey March 13, 10:00 a.m

Business Wire, March 11, 2003

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2003

Fitch Ratings will hold a teleconference on Thursday March 13 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) to discuss its preliminary results of the first-ever survey encompassing the credit derivative market. Chief Credit Officer Robert Grossman will be the call leader, and will be joined by Fitch Group Managing Director Charles Prescott and Managing Director Roger Merritt. A question and answer session will immediately follow.

Fitch surveyed approximately 200 global banks, insurance companies, reinsurers, financial guarantors and broker-dealers, focusing primarily on those 'selling protection' through credit derivatives and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). To date, 147 companies have responded and $1.3 trillion of the estimated $2 trillion market has been identified.

Participants in the U.S. and Canada should call 1-877-897-0442, while international participants should call 1-706-643-7396 . All callers should dial in five minutes prior to the scheduled time and reference 'Fitch Ratings' with the operator.

A replay of the teleconference will be available until March 16 by dialing 1-800-642-1687 in the U.S. and Canada, 1-706-645-9291 if calling from outside the U.S. and Canada. All callers seeking the replay should quote the access number '1108925'.

The report 'Global Credit Derivatives: Risk Management or Risk?' is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'. At points during teleconference, the report and its charts will be referred to. Participants are welcome to submit questions prior to the teleconference. Please e-mail any questions to James Jockle at 'james.jockle@fitchratings.com'.