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Disclosures Important Disclosures Credit opinion history Bahrain / BHRAIN Sovereign Date* Action Recommendation Bahrain / BHRAIN 12-Nov-2015 Initial Marketweight Table reflects credit opinion history as of previous business day’s close. “First date of recommendation within last 36 months. The investment opinion system is contained at the end of the report under the heading "BofA Merrill Lynch Credit Opinion Key." Dubai / DUGB Sovereign Date” Action Recommendation Dubai / DUGB 12-Nov-2015 Initial Marketweight 08-Jan-2016 Downgrade Underweight 28-Apr-2016 Upgrade Marketweight Table reflects credit opinion history as of previous business day’s close. “First date of recommendation within last 36 months. The investment opinion system is contained at the end of the report under the heading "BofA Merrill Lynch Credit Opinion Key." Qatar / QATAR Sovereign Date’ Action Recommendation Qatar / QATAR 12-Nov-2015 Initial Marketweight 08-Jan-2016 Downgrade Underweight 26-Feb-2016 Upgrade Marketweight 25-May-2016 Restricted NA Table reflects credit opinion history as of previous business day’s close. “First date of recommendation within last 36 months. The investment opinion system is contained at the end of the report under the heading "BofA Merrill Lynch Credit Opinion Key." BofA Merrill Lynch Credit Opinion Key BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research provides recommendations on an issuer's bonds (including corporate and sovereign external debt securities), capital securities, equity preferreds and CDS as described below. Convertible securities are not rated. An issuer level recommendation may also be provided for an issuer as explained below. BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research credit recommendations are assigned using a three-month time horizon. Issuer Recommendations: If an issuer credit recommendation is provided, it is applicable to bonds and capital securities of the issuer except bonds and capital securities specifically referenced in the report with a different credit recommendation. Where there is no issuer credit recommendation, only individual bonds and capital securities with specific recommendations are covered. CDS and equity preferreds are rated separately and issuer recommendations do not apply to them. BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research credit recommendations are assigned using a three-month time horizon: Overweight: Spreads and /or excess returns are likely to outperform the relevant and comparable market over the next three months. Marketweight: Spreads and/or excess returns are likely to perform in-line with the relevant and comparable market over the next three months. Underweight: Spreads and/or excess returns are likely to underperform the relevant and comparable market over the next three months. BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research uses the following rating system with respect to Credit Default Swaps (CDS): Buy Protection: Buy CDS, therefore going short credit risk. Neutral: No purchase or sale of CDS is recommended. Sell Protection: Sell CDS, therefore going long credit risk. Sovereign Investment Rating Distribution: Global Group (as of 31 Mar 2016) Coverage Universe Count Percent Inv. Banking Relationships* Count Percent Buy § 12.82% Buy 2 40.00% Hold 28 71.79% Hold 12 42.86% Sell 6 15.38% Sell 6 100.00% * Issuers that were investment banking clients of BofA Merrill Lynch or one of its affiliates within the past 12 months. For purposes of this Investment Rating Distribution, the coverage universe includes only Sovereign issuer recommendations. A Sovereign issuer rated Overweight is included as a Buy, a Sovereign issuer rated Marketweight is included as a Hold, and a Sovereign issuer rated Underweight is included as a Sell. FUNDAMENTAL EQUITY OPINION KEY: Opinions include a Volatility Risk Rating, an Investment Rating and an Income Rating. VOLATILITY RISK RATINGS, indicators of potential price fluctuation, are: A - Low, B - Medium and C - High. INVESTMENT RATINGS reflect the analyst’s assessment of a stock’s: (i) absolute total return potential and (ii) attractiveness for investment relative to other stocks within its Coverage Cluster (defined below). There are three investment ratings: 1 - Buy stocks are expected to have a total return of at least 10% and are the most attractive stocks in the coverage cluster; 2 - Neutral stocks are expected to remain flat or increase in value and are less attractive than Buy rated stocks and 3 - Underperform stocks are the least attractive stocks in a coverage cluster. Analysts assign investment ratings considering, among other things, the 0-12 month total return expectation for a stock and the firm’s guidelines for ratings dispersions (shown in the table below). The current price objective for a stock should be referenced to better understand the total return expectation at any given time. The price objective reflects the analyst’s view of the potential price appreciation (depreciation). Investment rating Total return expectation (within 12-month period of date of initial rating) Ratings dispersion guidelines for coverage cluster* Buy 2 10% < 70% Neutral 20% £ 30% Underperform NIA 2 20% * Ratings dispersions may vary from time to time where BofA Merrill Lynch Research believes it better reflects the investment prospects of stocks in a Coverage Cluster. 82 GEMs Paper #26 | 30 June 2016 38 Merrill Lynch HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016192