HSH Nordbank places world’s first jumbo ship Pfandbrief with an Aaa rating

Hamburg/Kiel, January 8, 2008 - World’s first jumbo ship Pfandbrief, which HSH Nordbank offered for subscription today, met with overwhelming demand. HSH Nordbank closed the book, by then three times oversubscribed with more than three billion euros, after less than two hours at about 10.15 a.m. The ship Pfandbrief, which HSH Nordbank launched as joint lead together with Deutsche Bank and HSBC, is not only world’s first jumbo ship Pfandbrief, but also the first jumbo placement of the financial year that has just begun. The issue’s volume is one billion euros with a coupon of 4.25 percent (mid-swaps flat) and a two-year term. Back in September rating agency Moody’s already gave the related ship-cover pool amounting to about EUR 2.5 billion the highest possible rating of Aaa.

“We are especially pleased about foreign investors’ strong interest in this new asset class, a world first,” said Jochen Friedrich, HSH Nordbank’s management-board member responsible for the capital market. About 30 percent of the subscription volume stems from other European countries and from Asia. German banks, savings banks, insurance companies and asset managers account for the largest, 70-percent proportion of this product, which is in origin a very traditional German one. “This splendid start to the new year encourages us in our conviction of being able to use ship Pfandbriefs as a source of funding in the future as well,” said Friedrich. Later issues could certainly also be denominated in U.S. dollars and be targeted at investors in the Middle East and Asia. This new source of funding boosts HSH Nordbank’s position as the world’s largest provider of ship finance.

Ship Pfandbriefs are subject to the same strict regulations as the mortgage and public-sector Pfandbriefs that have been established in the market for decades now. Yet in contrast to these, ship loans provide the collateral. The rated ship Pfandbrief provides investors with a new asset class and is exceptionally well suited for portfolio diversification without having to do without the very high security standard of the German Pfandbrief law.

HSH Nordbank AG is a strong regional bank in Northern Europe with total assets of € 206 billion. Some 4,700 of the bank’s employees provide corporate and high net-worth clients around the globe with premium bank products and services. In its core region of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, it is the market leader in the corporate customer segment. HSH Nordbank is an acknowledged partner of the capital markets and international sector specialist. Its main focus is on transportation and real estate. In fact, HSH Nordbank is the world’s largest provider of ship finance and covers the entire value chain in the transportation segment. In the area of real estate, HSH Nordbank is one of the strongest banks in Germany, acting as a provider of services relating to all aspects of real estate. For more information please visit our website at www.hsh-nordbank.com.