For Immediate Release NEWS Media Contact: Susan Assadi Gitenstein & Assadi Public Relations 800 922 8792 CDR Launches Counterparty Risk Index To Track Credit Risk of Wall Street Banks Walnut Creek, California, June 17, 2008 — Credit Derivatives Research (CDR), a leading independent credit research firm, has launched the first index designed to track the credit risk of the banks and brokers who are the counterparties in most of the contracts traded in the large and rapidly growing market for credit derivatives. The new CDR Counterparty Risk Index™ provides a unique view of an important aspect of the “credit crisis” now almost one-year old. The new CDR index averages the market spreads of the credit default swaps of the 15 major credit derivatives dealers, producing a market-based measure of the default risk of this group. The group includes ABN Amro, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Group, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia. “The Counterparty Risk Index (CRI) is the best guide to what’s happened since June 2007 when the spreads of these banks began to widen significantly,” says Dave Klein, CDR’s Manager of Credit Indices. The CRI has risen from 25 a year ago to above 100 now, but hit as high as 250 during the Bear Stearn’s crisis. “At around 100, the index is near its average for the past year, indicating the market’s recognition that the Bear Stearn’s crisis was handled and is in the past,” says Klein. “However, the CRI remains far higher than it was prior to 2007 when the counterparties’ CDS traded in the 20’s and 30’s.” CDR publishes a series of indices through its CDR Credit Indices unit, including the CDR Liquid 50 North America Investment Grade Index which is licensed to the CME – the large Chicago futures exchange –for a listed futures contract. “It is our intention to license the Counterparty Risk Index for trading either on an exchange or over-the-counter, so that investors in the rapidly-growing CDS market have a medium for laying off counterparty risk in a general way,” says Tim Backshall, CDR’s Chief Strategist. A CDS investor can currently hedge the risk of trading with a counterparty bank by buying the bank’s CDS. But counterparty banks lay off their risk on other counterparty banks, so the failure of the original trade can have repercussions across many banks. Hedging with an index like the CRI would protect against such system-wide contagion. “We think this index would help the CDS market stabilize and continue its strong growth,” says Backshall. About CDR and CDR Credit Indices CDR is an independent provider of credit research, analytics and index products to investors and traders in the credit market. CDR’s Trading Ideas recommends trades in CDS and bond instruments, with a complete analysis of the context and risks for each position. CDR’s Strategies offers timely advice on positioning within and across market segments. Comments & Movers provides daily updates on credit market activity, new issues, and cross-market (credit-equity) movements. Trading Techniques presents the tools and concepts required to analyze and trade across credit markets. Through its CDR Credit Indices unit, CDR is a leading independent provider of credit market indices. CDR Credit Indices publishes the CDR Liquid Series™ of indices that includes indices for investment grade and high yield segments, and for North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Global markets. The CDR Liquid 50 North America Investment Grade Index is licensed to the CME Group which has listed the first exchange-traded credit index futures contract in the U.S. CDR Credit Indices also publishes the CDR Counterparty Risk Index™, an index of the default risk of the dealers that are counterparties in a significant portion of credit derivatives trading. Founded in 2003, CDR has offices in New York City and Walnut Creek, California. The company’s website is www.creditresearch.com. ###