BLX Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA

PANAMA CITY, Republic of Panama, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. ("Bladex" or "the Bank") (NYSE:BLX), announced today that Moody's Investor Services has upgraded the Company's long term foreign currency deposit, debt, and issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 and raised the Bank's financial strength rating to C- from D+. A press release distributed earlier this week by Moody's stated that this decision "reflects the Bank's track record of increasing core profitability, earnings diversification, and improving asset quality, as well as management's strategy to broaden the Bank's trade finance and securities businesses in the Region." Jaime Rivera, Chief Executive Officer of Bladex, stated, "This upgrade testifies to the strength of the Bank's business model and franchise, as well as its ability to continue executing on all aspects of its strategy." Bladex is a supranational bank originally established by the Central Banks of Latin America and Caribbean countries to promote trade finance in the Region. Based in Panama, its shareholders include central and state-owned entities in 23 countries of the Region, as well as Latin American and international commercial banks and institutional and retail investors. For further information, please access our web site on the Internet at http://www.bladex.com/ or contact: Bladex, Head Office, Calle 50 y Aquilino de la Guardia, Panama, Republic of Panama Attention: Carlos Yap S., Senior Vice President - Finance Tel.: (507) 210-8563, E-mail: -or- i-advize Corporate Communications, Inc., 82 Wall Street, Suite 805, New York, NY 10005 Attention: Melanie Carpenter or Peter Majeski Tel.: (212) 406-3690, E-mail: DATASOURCE: Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. CONTACT: Carlos Yap S., Senior Vice President - Finance of Bladex, +1-507-210-8563, ; Melanie Carpenter or Peter Majeski of i-advize Corporate Communications, Inc., +1-212-406-3690, , for Bladex Web site: http://www.blx.com/

Copyright