This is a correction for a message issued on October 8, 2008. It amends the ratings.
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the following Farmer Mac Guaranteed Notes Trust transactions listed below, effective immediately:
Series 2006-2
--$1,000,000,000 guaranteed notes to 'AA' from 'AAA'.
Series 2007-1
--$1,000,000,000 guaranteed notes to 'AA' from 'AAA'.
Farmer Mac Guaranteed Notes Trusts are structured vehicles secured by a pool of agricultural mortgages. The guaranteed notes are general obligations of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Met Life). Farmer Mac will then support the transactions if Met Life is no longer able to do so. If Farmer Mac should then fail to make payments on the notes, the noteholders have ultimate recourse to the collateral.
While the notes had received a degree of benefit for a guarantee from Farmer Mac, Fitch now believes that benefit in higher stress environments would offer little if any additional protection to the note holders. As such, the ratings of the notes focus solely on the financial strength of MetLife (IDR rated 'AA-' with a Stable Outlook by Fitch) to fulfill its obligations under its guaranty.
The ratings on the guaranteed notes address the timely receipt of scheduled interest payments and ultimate receipt of principal per the transaction's governing documents.
Additional transaction information and historical data are available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com.
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.