PARIS (Standard & Poor's) May 29, 2009--Standard & Poor's Rating Services said
today that it has withdrawn its 'AAf/S3' fund credit quality and fund
volatility ratings on two fixed-income subfunds of the Luxembourg-domiciled
umbrella fund, Pleiade SICAV (see Ratings List below).
We are withdrawing the ratings at the request of Geneva-based Banque SCS
Alliance S.A., the sponsor of the funds.
The credit profile of the funds, in our view, is unlikely to remain
consistent with the requirements of an 'AAf' fund credit quality rating
because the funds will seek opportunities to enhance performance by investing
in a wider selection of investment-grade-quality securities. As a result,
Banque SCS Alliance is no longer requesting external surveillance and fund
ratings on the respective funds.
As of today, Standard & Poor's will no longer monitor the credit and
volatility profiles of the funds.
Ratings List
Withdraw
To From
Pleiade Euro Bonds Fund NR AAf/S3
Pleiade U.S. Dollar Bonds Fund NR AAf/S3
Ratings information is available to RatingsDirect subscribers at
www.ratingsdirect.com. It can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web
site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred country or region,
then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Find a Rating.
Alternatively, call one of the following Standard & Poor's numbers: Client
Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office (44) 20-7176-3605; Paris
(33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; Stockholm (46) 8-440-5914; or
Moscow (7) 495-783-4011.
Analytic services provided by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (Ratings Services) are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of ratings opinions. The credit ratings and observations contained herein are solely statements of opinion and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or make any other investment decisions. Accordingly, any user of the information contained herein should not rely on any credit rating or other opinion contained herein in making any investment decision. Ratings are based on information received by Ratings Services. Other divisions of Standard & Poor's may have information that is not available to Ratings Services. Standard & Poor's has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received during the ratings process.
Ratings Services receives compensation for its ratings. Such compensation is normally paid either by the issuers of such securities or third parties participating in marketing the securities. While Standard & Poor's reserves the right to disseminate the rating, it receives no payment for doing so, except for subscriptions to its publications. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees.