S&P Asgns Prelim Rtgs to Credipar Group's French ABS

    LONDON--Standard & Poor's--June 19, 2001-- Standard & Poor's today assigned its preliminary ratings to the Eur1 billion floating-rate notes to be issued by Auto ABS Compartiment 2001-1 as part of Auto ABS, a fonds commun de creances (see list below).
    The units will be backed by a pool of auto loan receivables generated by the Credipar group.
    The preliminary ratings reflect:

--	Strong protection for class A unitholders provided by the subordinated class B units (5% of units issued) and the Eur20 million initial cash deposit (2% of units issued);
--	Strong protection for class B unitholders provided by the initial cash deposit;
--	The suitability of the servicer in performing its role in this transaction;
--	The sound legal structure of the transaction; and
--	The sound payment structure and cash flow mechanics of the transaction.

    A copy of Standard & Poor's complete presale report for this transaction is available on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. The report is also available on Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Web site at www.standardandpoors.com. Under Presale Reports, select Structured Finance, then Asset-Backed Securities, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire

PRELIMINARY RATINGS ASSIGNED
Auto ABS Compartiment 2001-1
Eur1 Billion Floating-Rate Notes
Class     Rating     Amount (Eur Mil.)
A         AAA        950
B         A           50