ISDA®

INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Thursday, July 15, 2004

For More Information Contact: Louise Marshall, (212) 901-6000; lmarshall@isda.org

ISDA PUBLISHES FIRST-TO-DEFAULT CONFIRMATION

NEW YORK, Thursday, July 15, 2004 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has published a first-to-default confirmation. The confirmation is intended to document credit derivative trades with baskets or portfolios of reference entities. The confirmation provides for settlement terms when the first reference entity in the basket is subject to an event determination date and sets forth the mechanics for substituting a reference entity name or names in the event that a succession event or seller merger event occurs.

“This new template creates a documentation solution for the eventuality of a succession or unwinding once a merger has occurred to one or more reference credits within a basket of credits,” said Robert Pickel, Executive Director and CEO of ISDA. “The first-to-default credit swap product is a maturing sector of the credit derivatives market. ISDA is pleased to be able to offer this document for use by a wide range of members.”

The work on the first-to-default confirmation, undertaken by ISDA and its members, is the most recent credit derivatives documentation project to be completed. A schedule of additional projects, agreed upon by the ISDA membership in March 2004, includes a project on swaptions, a project on credit default swaps that reference asset-backed securities and credit default swaps that reference U.S. municipal entities.

Results for the Year-End 2003 Market Survey show that credit derivatives grew at a stronger rate in the second half (33 percent) than in the preceding six months (25 percent); notional amounts now stand at $3.58 trillion. This represents a year-over-year growth of 29 percent. Credit derivatives, for the purposes of the Survey, consist of credit default swaps, baskets and portfolio transactions.

ISDA is the global trade association representing leading participants in the privately negotiated derivatives industry. ISDA was chartered in 1985, and today has more than 600 member institutions from 46 countries on six continents. These members include most of the world's major institutions that deal in privately negotiated derivatives, as well as many of the businesses, governmental entities and other end users that rely on over-the-counter derivatives to manage efficiently the financial market risks inherent in their core economic activities. Information about ISDA and its activities is available on the Association's web site: www.isda.org.

^®ISDA is a registered trademark of the International Swaps & Derivatives Association, Inc.

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