Moody's Signs Technical Services Agreement with Peruvian Credit Rating Agency

Moody’s Investors Service announced today that it has entered into a Technical Services Agreement with Equilibrium, a rating agency that provides credit rating and research services in Peru, El Salvador, and Panama. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, Equilibrium has been operating since 1996. Equilibrium has a well established local presence in Peru and key regions of Central America. Moody’s will provide Equilibrium with technical support and analyst training based on its globally recognized credit analysis techniques for companies, municipal governments, financial institutions and structured financings. Equilibrium will continue to provide domestic ratings services, rendering opinions on the relative creditworthiness of issuers and issues within Peru, El Salvador, and Panama. Separately, Moody’s will continue to assign globally comparable ratings for domestic as well as cross-border financings in Peru, El Salvador, and Panama. "Moody’s affiliation with Equilibrium is an additional step in extending our credit rating, research, and analysis services in Latin America,” said Chester Murray, Executive Vice President – International of Moody’s Investors Service. "Moody’s will also benefit from Equilibrium’s local market knowledge.” "Peru and Central America represent growing capital markets,” said Francisco Moreno Ortiz, Chairman of Equilibrium. "By teaming with Moody’s, we can better serve market participants in the region.” Moody's Investors Service is a leading provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. Moody’s commitment and expertise contributes to stable, transparent and integrated financial markets, protecting the integrity of credit. The firm's ratings and analysis track debt covering more than 100 sovereign nations, 12,000 corporate issuers, 29,000 public finance issuers, and 96,000 structured finance obligations. Moody's also publishes credit opinions, research and commentary, serving more than 9,300 customer accounts at some 2,400 institutions around the globe. Moody's Investors Service is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO), which reported revenue of $2.0 billion in 2006, employs approximately 3,600 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 27 countries. Additional information about the company is available at www.moodys.com.