Sarah Nicolini

Moody's Investors Service Ltd. is the Great Britain-based investment research subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO) in the US. The firm was founded in 1985 under the name Rapidcredit Ltd. Headquartered in London, Moody's Investors Service provides credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. Credit ratings and research help investors analyze the credit risks associated with fixed-income securities. Such independent credit ratings and research also contribute to efficiencies in fixed-income markets and other obligations, such as insurance policies and derivative transactions, by providing credible and independent assessments of credit risk.

Moody's Investors Service, Inc. is a credit rating and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO). The firm performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities and provides a variety of analytic tools for assessing credit risk. Their clients include creditors, investment banks and commercial banks.

Exane SA (Broker) (Exane) is the brokerage division of Exane SA, itself a subsidiary of Verner Investissements SAS in France. Established in 2004 as a joint venture between BNP Paribas and Verner Investissements, the firm is based in Paris and specializes in European equity research and broking activities. Exane has research centers in Paris and London which are supported by a team of economists and strategists.

Natixis SA (Broker) is the securities brokerage division of Natixis SA (EPA: KN), a corporate and investment bank headquartered in Paris, France. They are ultimately owned by BCPE SA. The firm provides full spectrum of broking services to various investors.

Fitch Ratings Ltd. (FRL) is an investment research firm headquartered in London, UK. The firm was founded in 1977 and is a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, Inc., ultimately held by The Hearst Family Trust in the US. FRL provides research and specialized ratings of services to residential and commercial mortgages, asset managers and managed funds. They also publish quantitatively based ratings such as Q-IFS ratings.

Part of Moody's Corp., Moody's Eastern Europe LLC is a Russian company that provides investment research. The company is based in Moscow, Russian Federation and was founded in 2005.

NATIXIS Zweigniederlassung Deutschland (NATIXIS Germany) is the Germany-based brokerage subsidiary of Natixis SA (Broker), which is ultimately held by BPCE SA. The firm is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. NATIXIS Germany provides brokerage services to clients, corporations, financial institutions, and institutional investors.