DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Master Asset Vehicle III Tracking Notes

DBRS has today assigned provisional ratings to six classes of Tracking Notes (the Notes) to be issued by Master Asset Vehicle III (MAV III).

On December 24, 2008, the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee announced that an agreement had been reached with all key stakeholders regarding the restructuring of $32 billion of third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP). Following the announcement, certain material documents (the Documents) relating to the restructuring were posted by Ernst & Young Inc. (the court-appointed monitor) on its website.

The provisional ratings assigned today by DBRS are based on the Documents and information provided to DBRS to date. Failure of the final transaction documentation to reflect the Documents and information communicated to DBRS to date could potentially result in withdrawal of the provisional ratings.

On April 23, 2008, DBRS assigned provisional ratings to the Notes. In assigning the ratings, DBRS relied on certain assumptions regarding the structure and asset composition of the Notes. As the restructuring progressed, other than asset amortization and the substitution of some assets for cash, the assets that backed MAV III as a whole, generally remained the same. However, the composition of some of the MAV III Tracking Notes did change, which contributed to DBRS’s decision to withdraw all provisional ratings by August 19, 2008. As a result of the changes, the class references used in the DBRS provisional rating report of April 23, 2008, have been amended and the previous Class 3, Class 4, Class 6, Class 7, Class 9 and, together, Class 10 and 11 Notes now relate to the Class 5A, Class 7A, Class 10A, Class 12A, Class 15A and Class 16A Notes, respectively. At this time, DBRS does not expect to assign ratings to any other MAV III Notes.

Provisional ratings are indicative credit opinions based on information received by DBRS at a point in time and may change when ratings are finalized or be withdrawn at any time.

DBRS intends to provide final ratings in accordance with its rating methodologies and as requested by the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee.

For more information on developments in the Canadian ABCP market since August 2007, please see www.dbrs.com.

Note:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodologies are CMBS Rating Methodology, CMBS Surveillance, Canadian RMBS Methodology and Auto Lease Securitization Methodology, all of which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

For the assets securing the Class 16A Notes, the rating of the program and the ultimate repayment of the loans depend on the credit strength of applicable swap counterparties and/or participating provinces or territories.

This is a Structured Finance rating.