BLX Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA

PANAMA CITY, July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. ("Bladex" or "the Bank") (NYSE:BLX), announced today that Fitch Ratings has assigned Bladex the following ratings: --Foreign Currency long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) 'BBB'; --Foreign currency short-term (IDR) 'F2'; --Individual rating 'C'; --Support rating #'5'; --Support floor 'NF'; A press release distributed earlier today by Fitch stated that the decision "reflects the Bank's expertise, competitive position, high asset quality, sound risk management policies, strong capitalization, lean operational structure and ample liquidity. They also factor in the loan and funding concentration, narrow product offering, and relatively low but improving returns." Jaime Rivera, Chief Executive Officer of Bladex, stated, "The rating action is one more confirmation of the strength of the Bank's growing business, and of its ability to execute on its strategy of offering an increasingly larger array of trade finance services to an increasingly large client base." Bladex is a supranational bank 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: Jaime Celorio, Chief Financial Officer 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: Jaime Celorio, Chief Financial Officer, Bladex, +011-507-210-8563, ; or Melanie Carpenter or Peter Majeski, both of i-advize Corporate Communications, Inc., +1-212-406-3690, Web site: http://www.blx.com/

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