Fitch to Use Outlooks for Structured Deals

Fitch Ratings has announced that it will introduce Rating Outlooks for U.S. structured finance transactions to provide more forward-looking information to the market. Rating Outlooks, which are already used with many other Fitch ratings, indicate the likely direction of any rating change over a one- to two-year period. They may be Positive, Negative, Stable, or Evolving. "Fitch will assign Rating Outlooks to each rated tranche to offer investors a forward-looking opinion about the medium-term prospects of a tranche's performance," said John Bonfiglio, a group managing director who is the head of U.S. structured finance for Fitch. "Rating Outlooks may be influenced by factors that are quantitative, including performance relative to expectations, and more qualitative in nature, including prospective economic and sector developments affecting collateral." The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.