CIT Company Profile

We have broad access to customers and markets through our "franchise" businesses. Each business focuses on specific industries, asset types and markets, with portfolios diversified by client, industry and geography.

We provide a wide range of financing and leasing products to small, midsize and larger companies across a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing,  retailing, transportation, aerospace, construction, technology, communication,  and various service-related industries. Our secured lending, leasing and factoring  products include direct loans and leases, operating leases, leveraged and single investor leases, secured revolving lines of credit and term loans, credit protection,  accounts receivable collection, import and export financing, debtor-in-possession and turnaround financing, and acquisition and expansion financing. Consumer lending, conducted in our Specialty Finance segment, consists primarily of home equity lending to consumers originated largely through a network of brokers and correspondents.

Transactions are generated through direct calling efforts with borrowers, lessees,  equipment end-users, vendors, manufacturers and distributors and through referral sources and other intermediaries. In addition, our strategic business units work together in referring transactions to other CIT units to best meet our  customers' overall financing needs. We also buy and sell participations in and  syndications of finance receivables and/or lines of credit. From time to time, in the normal course of business, we purchase finance receivables on a wholesale basis to supplement our origination volume and sell certain finance receivables  and equipment under operating leases to reduce concentrations, for other balance  sheet management purposes, or to improve profitability.

We conduct our operations through five strategic business units that market  products and services that satisfy the financing needs of specific customers,  industries, vendors/manufacturers, and markets. Our five business segments are as follows:

o Specialty Finance -- vendor programs, small-ticket commercial lending and leasing, consumer home equity lending and U.S. Small Business Administration lending;

o Commercial Finance -- mid- to large-ticket asset-based lending, factoring;

o Equipment Finance -- diversified, middle market equipment lending and leasing;

o Capital Finance -- commercial aircraft and rail equipment leasing and lending; and

o Structured Finance -- advisory services, including transaction structuring,  other specialized investment banking services and project and other large ticket asset-based financing.

We compete primarily on the basis of pricing, terms and structure. From time to time, our competitors seek to compete aggressively on the basis of these factors and we may lose market share to the extent we are unwilling to match competitor pricing and terms in order to maintain interest margins and/or credit standards.

Other primary competitive factors include industry experience, client service and relationships. In addition, demand for our products with respect to certain  industries will be affected by demand for such industry's services and products and by industry regulations.