The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec comments Moody’s update

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is satisfied with the update issued by Moody’s, which has confirmed the short- and long-term credit ratings of CDP Financial and maintained its “stable” rating outlook.

Moody’s Aaa long-term and Prime-1 short-term credit ratings are the highest on its scale. It stated in its update that the decision was based on the Caisse’s strong liquidity and low ratio of debt to the fair value of its assets as at December 31, 2008.

The Caisse has taken note of the agency’s comments on possible improvements to its risk management practices and will work closely with it on this matter.

Moody’s update is the third issued since the Caisse announced its 2008 results.

On February 25, DBRS also issued an update that left the Caisse’s credit ratings unchanged (R1-High for short-term borrowing and AAA for long-term).

On February 26, Standard & Poor’s placed the Caisse’s AAA long-term issuer credit rating on credit watch “with negative implications” for the next three months. The agency also said that it did not expect to change the Caisse’s A-1+ rating for short-term borrowing. The Caisse stated at that time that it would work closely with the agency to provide it with the requested information on the reasons given, namely senior management stability, the Caisse’s strategy for handling the current investment climate, risk management and the institution’s independence vis-à-vis the government.

About the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2008, it held $120.1 billion of net assets. As one of the leading institutional fund managers in Canada, the Caisse invests in the main financial markets as well as in private equity and real estate. For more information: www.cdpq.com