The CUSIP Service Bureau Releases a Free New Service to Licensed Subscribers


New service delivers FTP file downloads of newly issued securities registered with the CUSIP Service Bureau every 15 minutes

NEW YORK, Oct. 30 -- Demonstrating its commitment to enhancing efficiencies and transparency required in the capital markets, the Standard & Poor's CUSIP Service Bureau today announced CUSIP NOW, a new issue alert service that will be available free of charge to all licensed CUSIP customers starting December 2006. CUSIP NOW is an innovative service that utilizes "push technology" to deliver new CUSIP issues and reference data to market participants every 15 minutes. CUSIP is a unique, intelligent, 9-character identifier that is permanently assigned to individual securities and their issuers.

"This new service underscores our commitment to help financial firms streamline and improve their operations, especially with rapidly evolving regulations that focus on the fixed income markets," says Jim Taylor, Managing Director, Standard & Poor's CUSIP Service Bureau. "This comprehensive service will help market participants maintain a competitive edge by providing the basic building blocks required to communicate new issue information in today's marketplace."

New securities are registered and enter the market thousands of times every business day. CUSIP NOW makes this information quickly available to end-users, thereby allowing the markets to communicate effectively, using CUSIP's global numbering system for the efficient and accurate processing of securities during the lifetime of an issue.

The service delivers CUSIP data via FTP file downloads to client databases, enabling firms to manage financial instruments more efficiently using a common and trusted language. CUSIP NOW will include corporate debt and equity issues, as well as competitive and negotiated municipal bond offerings that are registered with the CUSIP Service Bureau. The service is particularly timely for the bond markets given recently shortened MSRB (Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board) and TRACE (Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine) trade reporting timeframes.

CUSIP NOW will be available free of charge to all end-user organizations that are licensed to receive CUSIP data. Beginning December 2006, the CUSIP Service Bureau will begin accepting applications online for companies that wish to register for the free CUSIP NOW new issue alert service. Subsequent releases of additional CUSIP based identifiers are planned for 2007. The American Bankers Association owns the CUSIP standard. For additional information, please e-mail sp_marketing@standardandpoors.com

About the CUSIP Service Bureau

The CUSIP Service Bureau is the leading global provider of securities identifiers and related data. CUSIP is the trusted, intelligent numbering system of security identification information, which facilitates standardized data and information solutions for the capital markets worldwide. Operated under the aegis of the American Bankers Association since 1968, CUSIP is administered by the CUSIP Service Bureau, which is operated by Standard & Poor's. For more information, visit www.cusip.com

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 7,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/

Source: The CUSIP Service Bureau

CONTACT:

Product Contact:
Matthew Bastian
Director, Product Development
Standard & Poor's, CUSIP Service Bureau
212.438.4072
matthew_bastian@standardandpoors.com

Media Information:
Shirin Bhan
KNB Communications
212-505-2441, ext. 130
sbhan@knbpr.com

Web site:
http://www.cusip.com/
http://www.standardandpoors.com/

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