FSA´s Statement on Meeting with Holders of Bonds Issued by Metronet Rail BCV & Metronet Rail SSL



    Financial Security Assurance (FSA) met today with holders of bonds
    issued by Metronet Rail BCV (BCV) and Metronet Rail SSL (SSL) to
    provide further information on the escrow arrangements for funds
    recently received in respect of those bonds and the application of
    those funds. As previously announced on February 13, 2008, funds paid
    by London Underground Ltd (LUL) in respect of the put option price on
    bonds issued by BCV and SSL are being held in escrow and are available
    to meet debt service and other amounts due in accordance with the Bond
    Trust Deed, escrow agreements and other relevant documentation. The
    slide presentation used at today´s presentation will be available on
    FSA´s web site at:
    http://www.fsa.com/pdfs/20080318metronetpresentation.pdf

    Triple-A rated FSA insures GBP 193 million gross (GBP 93 million
    net of amounts reinsured) of index-linked bonds issued by BCV and GBP
    350 million gross (GBP 170 million net of amounts reinsured) of
    fixed-rate bonds issued by SSL. The BCV bonds are indexed every six
    months, which affects the gross and net amounts.

    The debt was issued under Public Private Partnership (PPP)
    contracts to finance the operation, maintenance and the initial phase
    of asset upgrades for part of the London Underground.

    Under the applicable PPP contracts, insured bondholders and other
    senior creditors including commercial banks and the EIB benefit from
    an "Underpinned Amount" providing support from LUL. With respect to
    the FSA-insured BCV and SSL bonds, the sum of GBP 619 million has been
    segregated through deposit into two separate escrow accounts opened in
    the joint names of FSA and Deutsche Trustee Company Limited (Deutsche)
    at Citibank, N.A., London Branch. Deutsche is the Bond Trustee under
    the Bond Trust Deed governing the BCV and SSL bonds.

    The funds held in escrow are available to meet debt service
    guaranteed by FSA and other amounts due in accordance with the Bond
    Trust Deed, the escrow agreement and other relevant documentation.
    While in escrow, the funds will be invested in UK government
    securities, entities which invest solely in UK government securities,
    any short term instruments or deposits with a rating of A-1 or better
    by S&P and P-1 or better by Moody´s, or other investments as agreed by
    FSA and the Bond Trustee.

    As is typical for insured transactions that experience an event of
    default, FSA has the right to direct that the funds held in escrow be
    used either to continue to meet debt service as scheduled or to fund
    the acceleration and immediate payment of all principal and interest
    due.

    FSA´s unconditional and irrevocable Triple-A guaranty remains in
    full force and effect.

    THE COMPANY

    Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. (the Company),
    headquartered in New York City, is a holding company whose affiliates
    provide financial guarantees and financial products to clients in both
    the public and private sectors around the world. The principal
    operating subsidiary, Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA), a
    leading guarantor of public finance and asset-backed obligations, has
    been assigned Triple-A ratings, the highest ratings available, from
    Fitch Ratings, Moody´s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor´s
    Ratings Services and Rating and Investment Information, Inc. Through
    other subsidiaries, the Company provides FSA-insured financial
    products, such as guaranteed investment contracts, to obtain funds at
    Triple-A cost and then invests those funds in high-quality, liquid
    securities. The Company is a member of the Dexia group.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    The Company relies on the safe harbor for forward-looking
    statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
    1995. This safe harbor requires that the Company specify important
    factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
    those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of
    the Company. Accordingly, forward-looking statements by the Company
    and its affiliates are qualified by reference to the following
    cautionary statements.

    In its filings with the SEC, reports to shareholders, press
    releases and other written and oral communications, the Company from
    time to time makes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
    statements include, but are not limited to:

    -- projections of revenues, income (or loss), earnings (or loss)
    per share, dividends, market share or other financial
    forecasts;

    -- statements of plans, objectives or goals of the Company or its
    management, including those related to growth in adjusted book
    value or return on equity; and

    -- expected losses on, and adequacy of loss reserves for, insured
    transactions.

    Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends" and
    "plans" and future and conditional verbs such as "will," "should,"
    "would," "could" and "may" and similar expressions are intended to
    identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of
    identifying such statements.

    The Company cautions that a number of important factors could
    cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives,
    expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in forward-looking
    statements made by the Company. These factors include:

    -- changes in capital requirements or other criteria of
    securities rating agencies applicable to FSA;

    -- competitive forces, including the conduct of other financial
    guaranty insurers;

    -- changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations applicable
    to the Company, its competitors or its clients;

    -- changes in accounting principles or practices that may result
    in a decline in securitization transactions or affect the
    Company´s reported financial results;

    -- an economic downturn or other economic conditions (such as a
    rising interest rate environment) adversely affecting
    transactions insured by FSA or its investment portfolio;

    -- inadequacy of reserves established by the Company for losses
    and loss adjustment expenses;

    -- disruptions in cash flow on FSA-insured structured
    transactions attributable to legal challenges to such
    structures;

    -- downgrade or default of one or more of FSA´s reinsurers;

    -- market conditions, including the credit quality and market
    pricing of securities issued;

    -- capacity limitations that may impair investor appetite for
    FSA-insured obligations;

    -- market spreads and pricing on insured CDS exposures, which may
    result in gain or loss due to mark-to-market accounting
    requirements;

    -- prepayment speeds on FSA-insured asset-backed securities and
    other factors that may influence the amount of installment
    premiums paid to FSA; and

    -- other factors, most of which are beyond the Company´s control.

    The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors
    is not exhaustive. In any event, such forward-looking statements made
    by the Company speak only as of the date on which they are made, and
    the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise such
    statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.