Paris, March 12, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded to C (hyb) from Ca
(hyb) the ratings of the 4.892% perpetual non-cumulative
securities issued by Dexia Funding Luxembourg (DFL's hybrid Tier
1) and the 4.3% undated deeply subordinated notes issued
by Dexia Credit Local (DCL's hybrid Tier 1). These actions
follow the public tender offers for DFL's hybrid Tier 1 by Dexia
Bank Belgium ("DBB", A3 on review uncertain; Prime-1
on review down; D/Ba2 on review uncertain) and DCL's hybrid
Tier 1 by Dexia Credit Local ("DCL", Baa1 on review
down; Prime-2 on review down; E+/B2 on review down)
announced on 20 February, 2012 and 2 March, 2012 respectively,
and which we consider as impairment distressed exchanges based on Moody's
definitions.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The downgrade of DFL and DCL's hybrid Tier 1 securities was driven
by Moody's view that the 20 February, 2012 and 2 March,
2012 tender offers result in further impairments to the position of the
holders of the respective securities to the extent that the terms of the
transactions reflect the very high probability of durable coupon payment
omissions on both hybrids, were the investors to continue to hold
them.
Due to the on-going restructuring of Dexia Group and the state
aid it continues to receive in the form of shareholders' support
and guaranteed debt, Moody's believes that the risk of a continued
ban by the EU Commission on dividend payment by both Dexia S.A.
and DCL is likely to remain very high for a prolonged period of time.
This would likely result in very high probability of suspension of preferred
coupons on both the hybrid Tier 1 security of DFL, the issuing vehicle
of Dexia S.A., and the hybrid Tier 1 security of DCL.
The resulting impairment was reflected to a certain degree in the Ca (hyb)
ratings previously assigned on an expected-loss basis to both securities.
Nevertheless, the tender offers of 20 February, 2012 and 2
March, 2012 imply a loss of at least 75% on both securities,
which is more consistent with a rating of C. We consider these
as impairment distressed exchanges, as the tender offers have the
effect of allowing the obligors to avoid a contractually-allowable
payment omission.
KEY RATINGS SENSITIVITIES
DFL and DCL's hybrid Tier 1 securities could be upgraded if our
expected loss assumption reduces as a result of a resumption of coupon
payments, although Moody's views this scenario as highly unlikely.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Guidelines for
Rating Bank Hybrid Securities and Subordinated Debt published in November
2009. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Other Factors used in this rating are described in Moody's Approach
to Evaluating Distressed Exchanges published in March 2009.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
This rated entity or its agent(s) participated in the rating process.
The rated entity or its agent(s) provided Moody's access to the
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and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
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the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
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Yasuko Nakamura
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's France SAS
96 Boulevard Haussmann
Paris 75008
France
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
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Carola Schuler
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's France SAS
96 Boulevard Haussmann
Paris 75008
France
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's downgrades hybrid Tier 1 securities of Dexia Funding Luxembourg and Dexia Credit Local to C (hyb)