Mizuho Funding LLC -- Moody's affirms Prime-1 rating on Mizuho's USCP Program

The size of the USCP program has increased to USD15 billion from USD5 billion in October 2010, when Moody's assigned the Prime-1 to the program, which is guaranteed by MHCB and allows for the issuance of notes with tenor of no more than 397 days.

This Prime-1 rating is subject to the receipt of final documentation, the terms and conditions of which Moody's expects will not change in any material way from the draft documents it has already reviewed.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Prime-1 rating for the program reflects MHCB's A1 and Prime-1 long- and short-term deposit ratings.

The A1 rating incorporates: 1) MHCB's standalone bank financial strength rating of C-, which maps to baa1 on the long-term scale; 2) the Aa2 systemic support input for the ratings of Japanese banks and which is one notch above Japan's local currency government debt rating of Aa3(*); 3) the "very high" systemic support probability for the combined banking operations of MHCB, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., and Mizuho Trust and Banking Co., Ltd., given the group's importance to Japan's financial system.

(*: This Moody's Investors Service's rating is not governed by Japanese regulation.)

The rating is also based on Moody's assessment of the balance sheet -- including its deposit maturity profiles and the scale of its committed lines -- of MHCB's New York Branch (MHCB NY), as well as MHCB's liquidity management guidelines and the current preparedness of MHCB NY's alternative funding sources.

In Moody's view, the purpose of MHCB's USCP program is to diversify the NY branch's funding sources and reduce its reliance on short-term inter-bank markets. While the USCP market would not be a perfect replacement for the short-term inter-bank market, judicious use of the program would allow MHCB to tap into new investor markets, which in a normal environment would contribute to the diversification of its funding sources.

Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on the Moody's website for the last rating action and the rating history.

The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Consolidated Global Bank Rating Methodology published on July 6, 2012, and available on www.moodys.co.jp.

Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, is one of Japan's largest banks and is the major operating bank of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.

Tetsuya Yamamoto Vice President - Senior Analyst Financial Institutions Group Moody's Japan K.K. Atago Green Hills Mori Tower 20fl 2-5-1 Atago, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-6220 Japan JOURNALISTS: (03) 5408-4110 SUBSCRIBERS: (03) 5408-4100 Stephen Long MD - Financial Institutions Financial Institutions Group JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350 SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Japan K.K. Atago Green Hills Mori Tower 20fl 2-5-1 Atago, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-6220 Japan JOURNALISTS: (03) 5408-4110 SUBSCRIBERS: (03) 5408-4100 Copyright 2012 Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and/or its licensors and affiliates (collectively, "MOODY'S"). All rights reserved.

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