Credit Opinion: DNB NOR Bank ASA. Global Credit Research - 15 Feb Ratings. DNB NOR Bank ASA, New York Branch. Den norske Bank ASA

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1 Credit Opinion: DNB NOR Bank ASA Global Credit Research - 15 Feb 2010 Oslo, Norway Ratings Category Moody's Rating Outlook Bank Deposits Stable(m) Aa3/P-1 Bank Financial Strength Senior Unsecured C Aa3 Subordinate A1 Jr Subordinate *A1 Preferred Stock *A2 Commercial Paper P-1 Other Short Term P-1 DNB NOR Bank ASA, New York Branch Outlook Stable(m) Bank Deposits Aa3/P-1 Other Short Term Den norske Bank ASA P-1 Outlook Stable(m) Senior Unsecured MTN Aa3 Subordinate MTN A1 Bkd Preferred Stock *A2 Other Short Term Den norske Creditbank P-1 Outlook Stable(m) Bkd Subordinate *A1 * Placed under review for possible downgrade on November 18, 2009 Contacts Analyst Phone Janne Thomsen/London Antonella Pisani/London Simon Harris/London Soline Poulain/London Key Indicators DNB NOR Bank ASA [1] [2] [3]Avg. Total assets (NOK billion) Total assets (EUR billion) [4] Total capital (NOK billion) [4]14.40 Return on average assets Recurring earnings power [5]

2 Net interest margin Cost/income ratio (%) Problem loans % gross loans Tier 1 ratio (%) [1] As of December 31. [2] Statement period in which the bank switched to Basel II accounting framework. [3] The average calculations are based on Basel I and Basel II data where applicable. [4] Compound annual growth rate. [5] Preprovision income % average assets. Opinion SUMMARY RATING RATIONALE Moody's rates DnB NOR Bank ASA (DnB NOR) at Aa3/P-1/C. DnB NOR's C bank financial strength rating (BFSR), which translates into an A3 baseline credit assessment (BCA), reflects the bank's dominant franchise in Norway, good diversified core earnings and adequate risk profile. The rating is also in line with DnB NOR group's strategy, which is focused on retail banking, corporate banking and life insurance in Norway as well as asset management in Norway and Sweden. However, the BFSR is constrained by the bank's weakening profitability, its relatively high reliance on market funding, its high level of single-name exposure concentration and the expected deterioration in its asset quality. DnB NOR Bank's Aa3 long-term global local currency (GLC) deposit and debt ratings receive a three-notch uplift from the A3 BCA on the basis of Moody's assessment of a very high probability of systemic support for the bank in the event of need. Credit Strengths - Leading bank in Norway with a solid retail and corporate banking franchise and status as a flagship bank for the government - Good diversified core earnings - Adequate risk profile and good risk management Credit Challenges - Growing revenue to mitigate increased loan impairment - Containing the earnings volatility from its exposure to Eksportfinans and indirectly from Vital - Reducing the high level of single-name risk concentrations - Preserving asset quality across the economic cycle, especially in its joint-venture DnB NORD Rating Outlook The negative outlook on the BFSR primarily reflects DnB NOR's exposures to relatively volatile sectors (its exposures to the shipping, construction and real estate sectors collectively accounted for almost 30% of its net lending at YE 2009) as well as the borrower concentration in its loan portfolio. There is a risk that these factors could weaken the bank's credit quality to a greater extent than assumed in Moody's base-case scenario, which would exert sizeable pressure on its capitalisation. DnB NOR's debt and deposit ratings carry a stable outlook. These ratings continue to benefit from a three-notch uplift from the BCA, which reflects the bank's systemic importance in the Norwegian banking sector as well as the part ownership by the government. Therefore, the ratings incorporate a very high probability of systemic support. Should DnB NOR's BFSR be downgraded by one notch, the supported debt and deposit ratings would remain unaffected at Aa3, explaining the stable outlook. What Could Change the Rating - Up An upward movement in the ratings is viewed as unlikely, as reflected in the negative outlook on the BFSR.

3 What Could Change the Rating - Down A deterioration in asset quality beyond Moody's baseline scenario or an increase in the risk profile, for example as a result of a take-over of DnB NORD's Baltic operations, may be seen as a negative rating driver. In addition, any major reduction in core earnings could exert further downward pressure on the BFSR. Recent Results and Company Events DnB NOR Bank reported pre-provision profit of around NOK18 billion in 2009, an increase from NOK15.6 billion in The increase was largely driven by almost doubled trading income, reflecting the improved situation in the financial markets. However, DnB NOR's net profitability was further hit by deteriorating asset quality, particularly in its joint-venture's operations in the Baltics, and loan loss provisions represented over 40% of its pre-provision profit. Nevertheless, the banking group reported an increased Tier 1 ratio at 8.4% (under transitional rules towards Basel II). DETAILED RATING CONSIDERATIONS Detailed considerations for DnB NOR Bank's currently assigned ratings are as follows: Bank Financial Strength Rating The assigned C BFSR is in line with the outcome of Moody's bank financial strength scorecard and we believe the C BFSR is consistent with our assessment of the bank's ability to sustain the incremental loan loss impairments expected under our baseline stress assumptions at its current capital level. Qualitative Factors (50%) Factor 1: Franchise Value DnB NOR Bank is the largest financial institution in Norway with an dominant and sustainable market share of more than 30% in Norwegian retail and corporate banking. At year-end 2009, the bank, which accounts for almost 90% of the DnB NOR group (the group), had total assets of more than NOK1.6 trillion (EUR 194 billion). It offers its customers a full palette of banking products and its distribution network covers the whole country. Its robust franchise is underpinned by a solid customer base. It estimates that it has 2.3 million retail customers and more than 200,000 corporate customers. DnB NOR primarily aims to strengthen its market position in Norway by optimising its customer relationship management. It has also expanded its operations to the Baltic and Polish markets via its joint-venture, DnB NORD (51% owned). DnB NORD was also operating in Denmark and Finland but, in 2009, DnB NOR acquired DnB NORD's Finnish portfolio and around half of the Danish portfolio. In addition we note that DnB NOR has recently initiated a sixmonth evaluation period at the end of which DnB NOR will have the right to acquire NORD/LB's stake in DnB NORD. Overall, in terms of geographic diversification, we acknowledge the improvements, but also caution that the countries in which DnB NOR Bank has been expanding have less stable operating environments. In light of the sluggish macroeconomic environment in its countries of operation, the bank has had to scale back its international growth ambition and intends to selectively expand in capitalising on its established competences in the shipping, energy and seafood segments. In the short to medium term, the bank plans to focus on managing asset quality and improving cost efficiency, but it also sees some growth opportunities, especially in the retail and SME markets. Overall, we assess the franchise value of DnB NOR Bank to be C+. Factor 2: Risk Positioning DnB NOR group adheres to the corporate governance guidelines in Norway. Its largest shareholder is the Norwegian government with 34%. The government has not stated any intention of reducing this ownership stake and we continue to see DnB NOR as the government's flagship financial institution group in Norway. Only one other shareholder has a stake of more than 5%: the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation with 10.03%, which was established in connection

4 with the merger between DnB and Union Bank of Norway. There is limited related-party lending and this mainly corresponds to a guarantee provided to Eksportfinans in relation to its liquidity portfolio. Risk management practices are good and systems in DnB NOR group provide comprehensive guidelines and tools for risk-taking and this conservative approach has come to characterise the overall risk culture of the organisation. However the score is constrained by the high borrower concentration allowed in the loan portfolio (for further details, see Asset Quality, below). Transparency in accounting and company information is good. DnB NOR's financial statements are in accordance with IFRS, audited by Ernst & Young. The disclosed information is of good quality and the management analysis and discussion provide good insight into the group's business and financial performance. Quarterly and annual reports are disseminated within four and six weeks, respectively. Market risk for the bank is limited due to strict management in this area and a modest appetite for investment banking. The risk in the trading portfolio in DnB NOR Markets, as measured by Value-at-risk with a 99% confidence interval over a 10-day period has significantly decreased to NOK29 million compared to NOK119 million in 2008 mainly as a result of lower interest rate risk. While DnB NOR Bank is indirectly exposed to capital markets through its life insurance sister company, Vital, the risk is manageable. The overall score for risk positioning is C- with a neutral trend. Factor 3: Regulatory Environment Moody's assessment of Norway's regulatory environment does not address bank-specific issues; instead, it evaluates whether or not regulatory bodies are independent and credible, demonstrate enforcement powers and adhere to global standards of best practices for risk control. Refer to Moody's latest Banking System Outlook on Norway to obtain a detailed discussion of the regulatory environment. Factor 4: Operating Environment This factor is common to all Norwegian banks. Our assessment of a bank's operating environment is based on a measurement of economic stability, the power and efficiency of the legal system and the level of integrity in the country's business culture. The score for Norway's operating environment is B+. Refer to Moody's latest Banking System Outlook on Norway for a detailed discussion of the bank's domestic operating environment. Quantitative Factors (50%) Factor 5: Profitability Trend: Weakening Most of DnB NOR's earnings continue to stem from Norway, even though asset management outside Norway is increasing in importance. Its joint venture in DnB NORD covering the other Nordic countries, the Baltic area and Poland made a negative contribution in 2008 and We deem DnB NOR's earnings to be relatively stable, with more than half of its operating income stemming from its Retail division. However, we note that the bank has been focusing on corporate lending in its joint-venture DnB NORD (around 70% of DnB NORD's portfolio at YE 2009) and that, on a group level, volatility could stem from the insurance operation in its sister company Vital. Although we acknowledge the low risk entailed by the bank's continued focus on retail lending, from a profitability perspective, the low risk of these loans, which are to a large extent secured by firstpriority mortgages, is reflected in low earnings. In 2009, overall profitability - as measured by pre-provision profit in relation to risk-weighted assets - improved slightly to 1.7% from 1.6% at YE Most of the increase in pre-provision profitability reflects improved gains on financial instruments, especially foreign-exchange and interest rate instruments in DnB NOR Markets. Net trading income more than doubled compared to the depressed previous year, which had been negatively affected by market-related one-off charges. We do not expect such a performance to be sustainable due to the high reliance on market conditions of this source of income. Nevertheless, DnB NOR's core banking earnings proved resilient in Interest income was supported by modest growth in average lending volume and by rising lending margins which offset declining deposit spreads. The interest margin has potential for further improvement after the Norwegian central bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points twice in late 2009 and signalled further hikes in the rate. However, we caution that the short-term effect on banks' lending margins is usually negative as the regulator imposes a six-week notice period before banks can pass

5 on the increased rate to their customers' loans. Net profitability at DnB NOR has been substantially reduced as a result of the large increase in its provisioning level (for further details, see Asset Quality below). In addition, the bank had to write-off NOK730 million goodwill in 2009, primarily in relation to DnB NORD but also to some Swedish operations. In addition, the contribution of its joint-venture DnB NORD was negative in 2009 as it realised a negative pre-tax profit of NOK4.3 billion. As it is fully consolidated in DnB NOR's accounts while DnB NOR is responsible for only 51% of the loss, this increases the net profit to DnB NOR's shareholders. DnB NOR scores D+ for profitability and we view the trend going forward as negative as we expect net profitability to remain under pressure in the short-to-medium term, especially given our concerns about asset quality developments. Factor 6: Liquidity The bank's liquidity management is well developed, which is typical for a Norwegian bank as liquidity has historically been tight. The liquidity ratio (market funds less liquid assets in relation to total assets) has improved slightly to 27% in 2009 from 33% in 2008 but it is still weaker than that of most of its Nordic peers. Liquid assets (most of these can be repoed with the central bank) accounted for around 20% of the bank's balance sheet in 2009, a up from around 15% in This rapid increase chiefly reflects the NOK118 billion government's Treasury bills from the swap arrangement with the central bank. We view the increased liquidity positively but we caution that the arrangement is temporary and, at the end of the swap period, DnB NOR will have to repurchase the covered bonds from the government at the same price paid by the government for these bonds. Nevertheless, the central bank has recently communicated its intention to tighten the guidelines for collateral requirements and to no longer accept securities issued by banks as collateral for loans, evidencing its willingness to continue to support the covered bond market. We also note that 58% of the liquidity portfolio consists of non-us RMBS transactions and these have caused some mark-to-market volatility for the overall earnings of the group. However, none of the underlying assets are currently in default. DnB NOR's funding profile is well diversified. More than 40% of its funding was in the form of domestic deposits and 17% was interbank funding at YE However, the bank is reliant on wholesale funding, which accounted for around 40% at end Wholesale funding has to a large extent been converted to covered bonds and, at YE 2009, covered bonds issued via its fully owned subsidiaries DnB NOR Boligkreditt (covered bonds backed by residential mortgages, rated Aaa) and DnB NOR Næringskreditt (covered bonds backed by mortgages on commercial property) represented around half of the bank's market funding. This source of funding has been widely used in the context of the Norwegian government's swap arrangement whereby banks can swap covered bonds for government bonds, which has now been phased out due to improved market conditions. Moody's views covered bonds as a cost efficient source of funding. However, we caution that the maturity of those covered bonds is on average shorter than that of the loans granted by the bank, which is typically years. The bank scores D+ for liquidity, reflecting its relatively high reliance on market funding. Factor 7: Capital Adequacy At year-end 2009, the Tier 1 and capital ratios including the transitional floor under Basel II were 8.4% and 11.4%, an improvement from 6.9% and 9.9%, respectively, at year-end However, we note that the transitional floor is not effective yet and therefore DnB NOR has so far benefited less from the implementation of Basel II in relation to Basel I. This is because their corporate and international loan books are not measured with the advanced IRB method yet - whereas other large Nordic banks are more advanced in that process. We also note that, at the group level, capital was strengthened by a NOK14 billion rights issue in December DnB NOR Bank reports according to the rules for transition towards Basel II; it follows the IRB approach for retail customers with loans secured by residential property, the advanced IRB approach for SMEs and the standardised approach for the rest. The bank's gross risk-adjusted capital of NOK63 billion at year-end 2009 reflected the fact that a key component of the risk within DnB NOR group is credit risk, at NOK51 billion. On a group basis, NOK11 billion (up from NOK7.1 billion at year-end 2008), relates to risks in insurance operations.

6 We assess DnB NOR Bank's capital adequacy to be equivalent to a C+ score with a neutral trend. Factor 8: Efficiency DnB NOR Bank's cost efficiency continues to improve, reflecting the mergers that have taken place and the synergies that have been realised. The banking group has implemented a cost-cutting programme, which reportedly reduced costs by NOK410 million in 2009 compared to the previous year and aims at reducing costs by NOK1.7 billion by end (revised upwards from NOK1.2 billion initially). We note that in 2009 the bank has reduced its workforce by almost 5%. Further savings will primarily come from streamlining of the branch network, reducing procurement costs, shifting to electronic customer communications and improving coordination of the banking group's staff and support functions. Costs in relation to average assets were stable at around 1% at end-2009 and decreased to 48% from 51% in relation to income. We expect the current level to be maintained as the group has no large pending investments and it also reflects the bank's good position in retail banking. The score for the three-year average cost-to-income ratio is B with a neutral outlook. Factor 9: Asset Quality Trend: Weakening In 2009, asset quality further weakened as evidenced by the level of problem loans (gross non-performing and impaired commitments) at 2.4%, up from 1.3% in 2008 and 0.6% in This is mainly due to exposures in DnB NORD in the Baltics, as well as in Denmark. We expect these portfolios to remain under pressure and we are also concerned about the borrower concentration and the exposures to volatile sectors such as real estate and shipping, in which Moody's expects to see rising delinquencies globally. On the positive side, we note that impairments in the Norwegian units have trended downwards in the most recent quarters. Nevertheless, DnB NOR Bank's loan portfolio is well diversified, with almost 50% covering retail lending. Of the commercial sectors, the largest are shipping and real estate, each accounting for more than 10% of the total loan portfolio. Although the shipping portfolio is well diversified by shipping type, the bank has booked increasing loan loss provisions in relation to these exposures (both in the form of specific and collective provisions). The real estate portfolio is a mix of commercial real estate and property management and continues to be under some pressure. Construction accounted for less than 3% of the banking portfolio at year-end Coverage for problem loans, at around 40%, reflects the fact that a large part of the loan portfolio is for retail lending and that the lending is secured by first-priority loans on private properties. Another concern is that DnB NOR Bank has - in common with other Nordic banks - high industry and single-name exposure concentration in its loan book. In our analysis of this area, we look at the bank's top 20 exposures, without taking into consideration any collateral, in relation to either Tier 1 capital or earnings - whichever provides the highest ratio. We note that DnB NOR Bank has a conservative attitude to collateral and also that its largest exposures are of good credit quality. Given that it is the dominant bank in Norway, we believe this single-name exposure risk is unlikely to diminish. Industry concentration is also high and we note that DnB NOR Bank has historically had large exposures to the shipping, energy and real estate sectors, reflecting the overall economy of Norway. Although the Norwegian economy has been more resilient to the global slowdown than the other Nordic countries, economic growth there is expected to remain slow and unemployment will likely increase, albeit from low levels. A turnaround in the manufacturing and industry sectors is highly dependent on the economic recovery of Norway's trading partners. In addition, the household debt burden remains high, which could make some households vulnerable to higher unemployment and increasing interest rates. Indeed, the Norwegian central bank recently raised its key interest rate by a quarter point twice in late 2009, becoming the first European central bank to reverse its easing cycle. While Moody's views the current asset quality as still satisfactory, we caution that asset quality has weakened and will deteriorate further and continue to weigh on the bank's performance. Therefore, we see a weakening trend going forward. The score for the bank's asset quality is B. Global Local Currency Deposit Rating (Joint Default Analysis) Moody's assigns long-term GLC deposit and debt ratings of Aa3 to DnB NOR Bank. Under Moody's joint default analysis (JDA) methodology, the ratings receive a three-notch uplift from the A3 BCA given Moody's assessment of a very high probability of systemic support for the bank in the event of need. This assessment is based on the bank's

7 dominant position in the Norwegian market. Notching Considerations Based on Moody's standard notching convention, DnB NOR's subordinated debt is rated A1, i.e. one notch below the bank's local currency deposit rating, and its hybrid debt is rated A2, two notches below the bank's deposit rating. Moody's cautions, however, that it released a revised methodology in a publication titled "Moody's Guidelines for Rating Bank Hybrid Securities and Subordinated Debt" on 17 November In conjunction with the release of our revised rating methodology, DnB NOR's junior subordinated and hybrid debt ratings have been placed on review for possible downgrade. Foreign Currency Deposit Rating DnB NOR Bank's Aa3 foreign currency deposit rating is unconstrained given that Norway has a country ceiling of Aaa. Foreign Currency Debt Rating DnB NOR Bank's Aa3 senior unsecured foreign currency debt rating is unconstrained given that Norway has a country ceiling of Aaa. ABOUT MOODY'S BANK RATINGS Bank Financial Strength Rating Moody's Bank Financial Strength Ratings (BFSRs) represent Moody's opinion of a bank's intrinsic safety and soundness and, as such, exclude certain external credit risks and credit support elements that are addressed by Moody's Bank Deposit Ratings. BFSRs do not take into account the probability that the bank will receive such external support, nor do they address risks arising from sovereign actions that may interfere with a bank's ability to honor its domestic or foreign currency obligations. Factors considered in the assignment of BFSRs include bank-specific elements such as financial fundamentals, franchise value, and business and asset diversification. Although BFSRs exclude the external factors specified above, they do take into account other risk factors in the bank's operating environment, including the strength and prospective performance of the economy, as well as the structure and relative fragility of the financial system, and the quality of banking regulation and supervision. Global Local Currency Deposit Rating A deposit rating, as an opinion of relative credit risk, incorporates the BFSR as well as Moody's opinion of any external support. Specifically, Moody's Bank Deposit Ratings are opinions of a bank's ability to repay punctually its deposit obligations. As such, they are intended to incorporate those aspects of credit risk relevant to the prospective payment performance of rated banks with respect to deposit obligations, which includes: intrinsic financial strength, sovereign transfer risk (in the case of foreign currency deposit ratings), and both implicit and explicit external support elements. Moody's Bank Deposit Ratings do not take into account the benefit of deposit insurance schemes which make payments to depositors, but they do recognize the potential support from schemes that may provide assistance to banks directly. According to Moody's joint default analysis (JDA) methodology, the global local currency deposit rating of a bank is determined by the incorporation of external elements of support into the bank's Baseline Credit Assessment. In calculating the Global Local Currency Deposit rating for a bank, the JDA methodology also factors in the rating of the support provider, in the form of the local currency deposit ceiling for a country, Moody's assessment of the probability of systemic support for the bank in the event of a stress situation and the degree of dependence between the issuer rating and the Local Currency Deposit Ceiling. National Scale Rating National scale ratings are intended primarily for use by domestic investors and are not comparable to Moody's globally applicable ratings; rather they address relative credit risk within a given country. A Aaa rating on Moody's National Scale indicates an issuer or issue with the strongest creditworthiness and the lowest likelihood of credit loss relative to other domestic issuers. National Scale Ratings, therefore, rank domestic issuers relative to each other and not relative to absolute default risks. National ratings isolate systemic risks; they do not address loss expectation associated with systemic events that could affect all issuers, even those that receive the highest ratings on the National Scale. Foreign Currency Deposit Rating

8 Moody's ratings on foreign currency bank obligations derive from the bank's local currency rating for the same class of obligation. The implementation of JDA for banks can lead to high local currency ratings for certain banks, which could also produce high foreign currency ratings. Nevertheless, it should be noted that foreign currency deposit ratings are in all cases constrained by the country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits. This may result in the assignment of a different, and typically lower, rating for the foreign currency deposits relative to the bank's rating for local currency obligations. Foreign Currency Debt Rating Foreign currency debt ratings are derived from the bank's local currency debt rating. In a similar way to foreign currency deposit ratings, foreign currency debt ratings may also be constrained by the country ceiling for foreign currency bonds and notes; however, in some cases the ratings on foreign currency debt obligations may be allowed to pierce the foreign currency ceiling. A particular mix of rating factors are taken into consideration in order to assess whether a foreign currency bond rating pierces the country ceiling. They include the issuer's global local currency rating, the foreign currency government bond rating, the country ceiling for bonds and the debt's eligibility to pierce that ceiling. About Moody's Bank Financial Strength Scorecard Moody's bank financial strength model (see scorecard below) is a strategic input in the assessment of the financial strength of a bank, used as a key tool by Moody's analysts to ensure consistency of approach across banks and regions. The model output and the individual scores are discussed in rating committees and may be adjusted up or down to reflect conditions specific to each rated entity. Rating Factors DNB NOR Bank ASA Rating Factors [1] A B C D E Total Score Trend Qualitative Factors (50%) C+ Factor: Franchise Value C+ Neutral Market Share and Sustainability x Geographical Diversification x Earnings Stability x Earnings Diversification [2] Factor: Risk Positioning C- Neutral Corporate Governance [2] - Ownership and Organizational Complexity Key Man Risk Insider and Related-Party Risks Controls and Risk Management x - Risk Management x - Controls x Financial Reporting Transparency x - Global Comparability x - Frequency and Timeliness x - Quality of Financial Information x Credit Risk Concentration Borrower Concentration Industry Concentration Liquidity Management x Market Risk Appetite x Factor: Operating Environment B+ Neutral Economic Stability x

9 Integrity and Corruption x Legal System x Financial Factors (50%) C Factor: Profitability D+ Weakening PPP % Avg RWA - Basel II 1.65% Net Income % Avg RWA - Basel II 0.85% Factor: Liquidity D+ Neutral (Mkt funds-liquid Assets) % Total Assets 29.79% Liquidity Management x Factor: Capital Adequacy C+ Neutral Tier 1 ratio (%) - Basel II 7.73% Tangible Common Equity / RWA - Basel II 7.02% Factor: Efficiency B Neutral Cost/income ratio 50.34% Factor: Asset Quality B Weakening Problem Loans % Gross Loans 1.45% Problem Loans % (Equity + LLR) 19.80% Lowest Combined Score (15%) D+ Economic Insolvency Override Neutral Aggregate Score C Assigned BFSR C [1] - Where dashes are shown for a particular factor (or sub-factor), the score is based on non public information [2] - A blank score under Earnings diversification or Corporate Governance indicates the risk is neutral CREDIT RATINGS ARE MIS'S CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES. MIS DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL, FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT CONSTITUTE INVESTMENT OR FINANCIAL ADVICE, AND CREDIT RATINGS ARE NOT RECOMMENDATIONS TO PURCHASE, SELL, OR HOLD PARTICULAR SECURITIES. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT COMMENT ON THE SUITABILITY OF AN INVESTMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR INVESTOR. MIS ISSUES ITS CREDIT RATINGS WITH THE EXPECTATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT EACH INVESTOR WILL MAKE ITS OWN STUDY AND EVALUATION OF EACH SECURITY THAT IS UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR PURCHASE, HOLDING, OR SALE. Copyright 2010, Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and/or its licensors including Moody's Assurance Company, Inc. (together, "MOODY'S"). All rights reserved. ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW AND NONE OF SUCH INFORMATION MAY BE COPIED OR OTHERWISE REPRODUCED, REPACKAGED, FURTHER TRANSMITTED, TRANSFERRED, DISSEMINATED, REDISTRIBUTED OR RESOLD, OR STORED FOR SUBSEQUENT USE FOR ANY SUCH PURPOSE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN ANY FORM OR MANNER OR BY ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER, BY ANY PERSON WITHOUT MOODY'S PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT. All information contained herein is obtained by MOODY'S from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. Because of the possibility of human or mechanical error as well as other factors, however, such information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind and MOODY'S, in particular, makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness,

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