Independence I CDO Classes Downgraded

Three classes of notes issued by Independence I CDO Ltd., a collateralized debt obligation partly composed of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class A, from AA-plus to AA; class B, from A-minus to BB; and class C, from BB to CC. Fitch attributed the downgrades to deteriorating collateral. "Mezzanine and subordinate tranches from underperforming manufactured housing securitizations have taken principal writedowns and, in Fitch's opinion, over $14 million in collateral that was considered performing from its previous review is now considered distressed," the rating agency said. The CDO consists of approximately 23.1% RMBS, 26.1% CMBS, 43.3% asset-backed securities, and 7.6% CDOs, the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.