DBRS Confirms AAA (sf) Rating to the Class A Notes Issued by Melepard CDO 1 Limited

DBRS Ratings Limited (“DBRS”) has today confirmed the rating of AAA (sf) to the Class A Asset Backed Floating Rate Notes (the “Class A Notes”) issued by Melepard CDO 1 Limited (the “Issuer”) following the assets sale. The rating addresses the timely payment of interest and principal payable to the Class A Notes. The Class A Notes’ Notional balance of EUR 461,900,000 is supported by Class B Notes’ Notional balance of EUR 471,200,000 and a Reserve Account. DBRS does not rate the Class B Notes.

The confirmation follows the request by the Citicorp Trustee Company Limited to confirm the rating of Melepard CDO 1 Limited, given the Issuer’s sale of EUR 41,240,015 in assets with a governing law outside of European Economic Area (“EEA”). The cash from the assets sale will remain in the transaction as principal proceeds and will be used to amortize the Notes on the next payment date.

The Issuer is a private limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Ireland. The transaction is a collateralized loan obligation (“CLO”) which closed in January 2009 and was rated by DBRS on 24 February 2011. The transaction is collateralized by a portfolio of secured and unsecured leveraged loans and other corporate debt obligations extended primarily to European and U.S. borrowers. Reinvestment of certain principal proceeds is permitted until the reinvestment period ends in January 2012. The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (the “Bank of Ireland”) acts as the Servicer of the portfolio.

The principal methodology is Rating Global High-Yield Loan Securitizations, Structured Loans and Tranched Credit Derivatives, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The sources of information used for this rating include the parties involved in the rating, including but not limited to the Bank of Ireland. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.

For additional information on DBRS European CLO and Tranched Credit Derivatives, please see European Disclosure Requirements, located at http://www.dbrs.com/research/237794.

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings Limited are subject to EU regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Orest Gavrylak
Rating Committee Chair: Jerry van Koolbergen
Initial Rating Date: 24 February 2011