Rice Financial stands apart in its ability to structure and execute innovative solutions to meet the needs of municipal clients, no matter how complex. Rice is one of the most experienced firms on Wall Street in structuring and implementing municipal interest rate swaps. The firm serves as a direct counterparty to municipal issuers, providing a “AA” or better counterparty rating. Since inception, the firm has executed derivative transactions totaling nearly $30 billion aggregate notional amount. Many of these were industry firsts, such as:

• First ever fixed-to-floating swap with a state-level entity in the U.S., $35 million, Texas Veterans Land Board
• Largest ever long-dated fixed-to-floating swap and first actual fixed rate fixed-to-floating swap, $183 million, Dade County, FL
• Largest competitive swap purchased by a single dealer in 2007 (forward starting SIFMA floating to fixed swap), $415 million, Cook County, IL
• First ever collared constant maturity swap, $205 million, Miami-Dade County, FL

Issuers that have implemented the signature Adjusted Basis Swap interest rate swap structure Rice Financial have only ever received positive periodic cash flow savings, even in challenging markets when other similar transactions experienced significant losses. Because this unique structure is associated with fixed rate bonds, it has not experienced the problems seen in transactions associated with variable rate bonds.

Rice Financial Products Company serves as principal and counterparty on all of the swaps that it executes and is the legal and financial counterparty on every transaction. Rice Financial is responsible, in consultation with its clients and their financial advisors, for all design and structuring of the swaps the firm executes, including swap pricing and hedging at the time of execution as well as all related servicing activities over the life of the swap.

Rice Financial’s clients do not have any counterparty relationship with the firm’s credit support providers. Because the fates of Rice Financial and its guarantor are not intertwined, the Rice Financial structure provides an additional level of credit protection for the firm’s clients. Under the more typical structure used by other firms in the marketplace, the parent company’s default is likely to affect the swap counterparty’s fate. With Rice Financial, two independent entities (Rice Financial and its guarantor) must fail in order for the client to lose its economic bargain.