S&P Asgns Prelm Rtgs in WestHyp's German CMBS GECO.

Business Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's

Nov. 6, 2002--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its preliminary credit ratings to the EUR679.1 million floating-rate amortizing notes to be issued by special-purpose entity GECO 2002

This transaction uses credit-linked notes that are issued directly by Westfaelische Hypothekenbank AG (WestHyp), with the payment of amounts due predicated on the performance of a pool of commercial mortgage loans (the reference pool) originated and serviced by WestHyp.

Losses incurred in the reference pool will trigger the allocation of equivalent losses to the credit-linked notes. In the first instance, losses will be allocated to the class F+ notes. When this has been reduced to EUR1 per note, losses will then be allocated to each class in reverse alphabetical order.

"This is the first CMBS transaction we have seen for some time with a reference pool domiciled entirely in Germany," said Michelle Weston, an associate director at Standard & Poor's European Ratings Group in London.

The originator, WestHyp, is a mortgage bank operating under the German Mortgage Banking Act. Its principal lending activities are restricted to mortgage loans for residential and commercial properties and public sector loans. WestHyp has approximately EUR3.072 billion of commercial reference loan balances that are secured on property in Germany. Outside of Germany, WestHyp lends principally in the U.K. and The Netherlands.

The preliminary ratings assigned to the notes reflect:

-- The quality of the underlying collateral;

-- The diversity of the reference pool of 189 commercial mortgages; and

-- The ability of WestHyp to service the loans in the reference pool.

The full presale report for this transaction can be found on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. The presale can also be found on Standard & Poor's new Web site at www.standardandpoors.com. Click "Fixed Income", then under "Browse by Sector" select "Structured Finance" and find the article under "Presale Credit Reports".

PRELIMINARY RATINGS ASSIGNED
GECO 2002 Ltd.
EUR675.1 Million Floating-Rate Amortizing Credit-Linked Notes and
EUR4 Million Floating-Rate Amortizing Notes

Class          Rating       Amount (EUR)
A-1+           AAA             250,000
A-2            AAA         500,000,000
B              AA           51,900,000
C              A            51,800,000
D              BBB          47,800,000
E              BB           23,100,000
F+             N.R.            250,000
Funding notes  AAA           4,000,000
N.R.--Not Rated.

ANALYST E-MAIL ADDRESSES

michelle_weston@standardandpoors.com

jonathan_braidley@standardandpoors.com

faten_bizzari@standardandpoors.com

StructuredFinanceEurope@standardandpoors.com

Copyright 2002, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services