Bangkok--20 Feb--Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings will host a teleconference later today at 11AM Hong Kong/12PM Korea to discuss the agency's outlook for the region's banks (ex-Japan) in 2008. The call will include a regional economic and banking outlook, as well as more specific comments on the Chinese and Korean banks. The teleconference will be hosted by David Marshall, Managing Director and the agency's head of Financial Institutions ratings, Asia Pacific. Senior Directors Charlene Chu and Peter Tebbutt will present on Chinese and Korean banks, respectively. James McCormack, Managing Director of Sovereigns ratings will participate on the call with an overview of the region's economies. The call is expected to run approximately 20 minutes, followed by a short Q&A session for interested participants. Tan Lai Peng, Director, will be available for queries on Singapore's banks, while Ananda Bhoumik, Senior Director will take questions on the Indian banks. To register for this event, please contact Evon Hanip at (65) 6796 7208/ [email protected]. Instructions: Participants should dial the listed toll free telephone access number at least 5 minutes before start time. When prompted by the Operator, the pass code is 'Fitch Ratings'. Participants will be placed in listen-only mode with music until the moderator or speaker starts the conference. Participants are advised to dial the toll free lines from an IDD-enabled fixed land line. Following are the details of the teleconference: -- Date: Wednesday, 20 February 2008 -- Time: 11AM HK/SG -- Australian Toll Free: 1800 097 137 -- Japan Toll Free: 0044 2206 2130 -- Korea Toll Free: 00798 612 1030 -- China North Toll Free: 10800 6110 114 -- China South Toll Free: 10800 3610 134 -- Taiwan Toll Free: 00801 232 383 -- Hong Kong Toll Free: 800 962 681 -- Singapore Toll Free: 800 6162 212 -- Malaysia Toll Free: 1800 181 225 -- Indonesia Toll Free: 00180 3061 2084 -- Thailand Toll Free: 001800 612 1073 -- India Toll Free: 000 800 100 6486 -- Philippines Toll Free: 1800 1612 0024 Replay: An archived replay of the teleconference will be available from the 'Events Calendar' on the Fitch Ratings Asia website, www.fitchratingsasia.com, from 22 February 2008. Contacts: David Marshall, Hong Kong, +852 2263 9911/ [email protected]. Media Relations: Lisa Lim, Singapore, Tel: +65 6796 7214; Shivani Sundralingam, Singapore, Tel: + 65 6796 7215. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.