NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Fitch Ratings confirms the following rating on Dakota commercial paper (CP) as follows:
--Dakota CP confirmed at 'F1'.
Upon amendments to the Dakota program which will take effect on June 6, 2008, Dakota CP issued after this date will benefit from a liquidity facility that will cover 100% of the face amount of CP. CP that is issued prior to this date will continue to be governed by the terms of the documents in effect prior to the restructuring.
The Dakota program notes, which are a subclass of class A notes of the Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust, are paid from the issuer's assets consisting primarily of an interest in prime credit card receivables arising in a portfolio of revolving credit card accounts. Dakota CP may be issued at a discount with maturities ranging from 1 to 124 days from the date of issuance.
The short-term 'F1' Dakota CP rating addresses the likelihood of timely and full interest and principal payment on the CP maturity date in accordance with the notes' stated terms and the stated liquidity support provisions. On the CP maturity date, if there are insufficient funds from the issuance of new CP, the interest funding account or the principal funding account, liquidity will be drawn upon on a same day basis to repay maturing CP. Furthermore, the 'F1' rating reflects the credit quality of the receivables that make up Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust, the available credit enhancement, the servicing expertise of Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. (IDR at 'AA-'/'F1+'), and the transaction's legal structure, which employs various amortization triggers.
For more information please see the recently published Dakota CP of Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust report, available to all investors on Fitch's corporate site, www.fitchratings.com.
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.
Fitch Ratings, New York
Paritosh Merchant, 212-908-0321
Sarah Repucci, 212-908-0726
or
Media Relations:
Sandro Scenga, 212-908-0278
