NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 2000--The Board of Directors of Moody's Corporation, (NYSE:MCO) today declared a quarterly dividend of 4.5 cents per share on Moody's common stock. The dividend will be paid on December 10, 2000 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 20, 2000. The dividend declared today represents the company's first quarterly dividend since its separation from The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation on September 30, 2000.

Moody's Corporation Board of Directors also authorized today a share repurchase program of up to $250 million of Moody's common stock. The shares would be purchased from time to time in the open market or in negotiated transactions, depending upon market conditions and other factors. Moody's has approximately 162 million shares of common stock outstanding. The program authorized today includes both special share repurchases of Moody's common stock and systematic repurchases of Moody's common stock that may be made from time to time to offset the dilutive effect of share issuances under Moody's employee benefits arrangements.

Moody's Investors Service, a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO), is the leading provider of credit ratings, research and analysis covering debt instruments and securities in the global capital markets. The company, with offices in New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Sydney, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Dallas, Madrid, Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore, Limassol, Sao Paulo, Milan, and Mexico City issues ratings on more than 4,200 corporations and 68,000 public finance debt securities issued by corporations and governments in more than 100 nations. Moody's Risk Management Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Moody's Investors Service, is a leading provider of financial software, credit training and both quantitative and judgmental risk assessment models. www.moodys.com