LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 16, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its preliminary credit ratings to the €412.3 million fixed- and floating-rate mortgage-backed notes to be issued by Sestante Finance S.r.l., an SPE (see list below). The notes are backed by a pool of performing mortgage loans originated by Meliorbanca SpA and secured over residential properties in Italy. Meliorbanca began its residential mortgage lending business in June 2002. Meliorbanca distributes its mortgage products through Divisione Mutui, an independent network of agents, in which Meliorbanca owns a 10% stake. As servicer, Meliorbanca is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the assets, the ongoing servicing of the mortgages, and for producing all reports and accounts in connection
