Fitch Upgrades Mellon Bank Support Ratings; Affirms Ratings of Mellon and Bank of New York

Business Wire,  July 2, 2007  

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CHICAGO -- Fitch Ratings has affirmed all debt ratings of BK, MEL, and their affiliates. Fitch has also upgraded the Support Ratings to `2' from '3' and Support Rating Floors to `BBB+' from `BB+' of Mellon Financial Corporation's (MEL) bank subsidiaries following the completion of MEL's merger with the Bank of New York Company Inc (NYSE: BK). The Rating Outlook is Positive.

The name of the holding company is now Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, which retains the ticker symbol BK. Mellon Financial has now been merged into this entity. A complete list of ratings follows at the end of this release.

The following ratings have been upgraded:

Mellon Bank N.A.

Mellon Trust of New England, N.A.

Mellon United National Bank

Mellon 1st Business Bank, N.A.

--Support to `2' from `3'

--Support Rating Floor to `BBB+' from `BB+'

The upgrades of the bank support ratings and support rating floors reflects the higher probability of sovereign support accorded to BK's larger and more extensive processing franchise. Fitch has withdrawn issuer ratings on Mellon Financial Corporation, since that company no longer exists as a separate entity.

Fitch has assigned The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation a Positive Rating Outlook. The new company now has the largest base of assets under custody and administration by a considerable margin, with over $18 trillion of administered assets. It adds MEL's extensive asset management and wealth management businesses to BK's corporate trust, depositary receipt, correspondent clearing and government bond clearance activities. This combination of businesses will endow the new company with an extremely diverse business mix and leading positions in most businesses.

Challenges facing the new company include executing merger integration, encompassing both system and cultural issues, and maintenance of satisfactory capital levels. Fitch anticipates that a twelve to eighteen month timeframe will be needed to resolve the Rating Outlook.

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings with a Positive Outlook:

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation

--Long-term Issuer default rating (IDR) at 'AA-';

--Long-term senior at 'AA-';

--Long-term subordinated at 'A+';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Short-term debt at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

--Support at '5';

The Bank of New York

--Long-term deposits at 'AA';

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Long-term senior at 'AA-';

--Short-term deposits at 'F1+';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

--Support at '2';

--Support Floor at `BBB+'.

Bank of New York (Delaware)

Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A.

--Long-term deposits at 'AA';

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Short-term deposits at 'F1+';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

--Support at '2';

--Support Floor at `BBB+';

Bank of New York Europe

Bank of New York (Luxembourg) S.A.

Bank of New York (Luxembourg) S.A. - Italian Branch

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Support at '1';

BNY Capital I

BNY Capital IV

BNY Capital Trust V

BNY Institutional Capital Trust A

--Trust Preferred Securities at `A+'.

Mellon Funding Corporation

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Long-term senior at 'AA-';

--Long-term subordinated debt at 'A+';

--Short-term IDR at'F1+';

--Short-term debt at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

--Support at '5';

Mellon Bank N.A.

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Long-term deposits at 'AA';

--Long-term subordinated debt at 'A+';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Short-term deposits at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

Mellon Trust of New England, N.A.

Mellon United National Bank

Mellon First Business Bank N.A.

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Long-term deposits at 'AA';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Short-term deposits at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

Mellon Capital III

Mellon Capital IV

--Trust preferred securities at 'A+'.

Mellon Financial Corporation

--Long-term senior at 'AA-';

--Long-term subordinated debt at 'A+';

Fitch has withdrawn and affirmed the following ratings:

Mellon Financial Corporation

--Long-term IDR at 'AA-';

--Short-term IDR at 'F1+';

--Individual at 'A/B';

--Support at '5';

Fitch has withdrawn the following ratings:

Mellon Financial Corporation

--Support floor 'NF'.

Fitch notes that the following ratings remain unchanged:

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation

Mellon Funding Corporation

--Support floor 'NF'.

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.

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