MOODY'S ABCP RATING ACTIONS FOR THE SEVEN-DAY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 26, 2005
New York, September 29, 2005 -- MOODY'S RATED THE FOLLOWING ABCP PROGRAMS PRIME-1 DURING THE PERIOD
SEPTEMBER 20, 2005 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26, 2005:
MOODY'S ASSIGNS RATINGS TO EATON VANCE VARIABLE LEVERAGE FUND LTD.
Moody's has assigned the following ratings to the debt to be issued by
Eaton Vance Variable Leverage Fund Ltd. ("The Fund"). The
senior debt is pari passu and consists of the following:
(i) $4.0 billion commercial paper program rated Prime-1,
and (ii) $4.0 billion Medium-Term Note ("MTN")
program rated Aaa (Aaa and Prime-1 for MTNs with maturities less
than one year).
The combined amount of senior debt can total no more than $4.0
billion. That is, the total amount of senior debt outstanding
at any one time can be no more than $4.0 billion in any
combination of ABCP and MTNs. The Fund intends to issue both ABCP
and MTNs on a continuing basis both to fund new asset purchases and to
repay maturing senior notes.
The Fund will also be issuing Capital Notes which are rated Baa2 by Moody's
and provides additional funds for investment and credit enhancement to
the senior notes. The total amount of Capital Notes outstanding
at any one time can be no more than $1.0 billion.
The Fund intends to issue Capital Notes from time to time to fund new
asset purchases, to maintain the required portfolio leverage and
to repay maturing Capital Notes.
For further details, please see Moody's press release dated September
20, 2005.
MOODY'S ASSIGNS PRIME-1 RATING TO DEUTSCHE BANK'S RIVERSIDE FUNDING,
LLC ABCP PROGRAM
Moody's has assigned a Prime-1 rating to the asset-backed
commercial paper ("ABCP") issued by Riverside Funding,
LLC ("Riverside"). Riverside is a newly established,
partially supported, multiseller ABCP program administered by Deutsche
Bank AG ("DB", rated Aa3/Prime-1/B-).
Riverside's program structure is very similar to four other Prime-1-rated
programs administered by DB: Nantucket Funding Corp.,
LLC, Saratoga Funding Corp., LLC, Tahoe Funding
Corp., LLC and Sedona Capital Funding Corp.,
LLC. Riverside has a program limit of $5 billion.
Riverside is a limited purpose corporation established according to Delaware
law. All transactions contemplated for Riverside are subject to
Moody's prior review. Riverside will not issue ABCP to the public.
Instead, all ABCP issued by Riverside will be purchased by Gemini
Securitization Corp., LLC ("Gemini"), another
DB-administered program that is rated Prime-1 by Moody's.
Gemini in turn will issue ABCP to investors on a match-funded basis.
At closing, Riverside has not funded any asset interests and has
no ABCP outstanding.
Moody's Prime-1 rating assigned to Riverside's ABCP is based
on, among other factors, the following: (i) prior review
requirement for all asset purchases to ensure the asset quality is consistent
with the Prime-1 rating, (ii) the liquidity and credit support
provided by Prime-1-rated banks, (iii) structural
protections to preserve the bankruptcy-remoteness of Riverside,
and (iv) the experience and capability of DB in its role as administrator.
For further details, please see Moody's press release dated September
20, 2005.
THE RATINGS OF THE FOLLOWING ABCP PROGRAMS WERE AFFIRMED BY MOODY'S AT
PRIME-1 DURING THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 20, 2005 THROUGH SEPTEMBER
26, 2005:
SOCGEN'S BARTON ADDS $250 MILLION CONSUMER LOAN FACILITY
Barton Capital LLC ("Barton"), a partially supported, multiseller
ABCP program sponsored by Societe Generale ("SocGen", rated Aa2/Prime-1/B+),
has financed a $250 million consumer loan transaction.
The transaction funds unsecured, revolving consumer loans that are
originated by a financial service subsidiary of an investment-grade-rated
technology company. Transaction-specific credit enhancement
is in the form of overcollateralization and a reserve account, which
totals 20.75%, as well as excess spread. This
transaction is partially supported by a liquidity facility provided by
Prime-1-rated SocGen.
With this transaction, Barton is now authorized to issue up to $15.6
billion of ABCP.
DEUTSCHE BANK'S GEMINI PURCHASES $50 MILLION FILM FACILITY,
$675 MILLION OF SARATOGA ABCP, AND INCREASES INTEREST IN
EXISTING TRADE RECEIVABLE FACILITY
Gemini Securitization Corp., LLC, ("Gemini"),
a partially supported, multiseller conduit sponsored by Deutsche
Bank AG (Aa3/Prime-1/B-), has directly purchased a
$50 million film finance facility and increased its interest in
an existing facility by $33.33 million. In addition,
Gemini has purchased $675 million of ABCP from a sister conduit,
Saratoga Funding Corp., LLC ("Saratoga").
The details of the transactions that Gemini has funded directly are as
follows:
(a) a $50 million financing facility for a film production company.
The transaction is fully supported by a liquidity facility provided by
Deutsche Bank. Therefore, there is no requirement to increase
Gemini's program-level credit enhancement.
(b) an increase of $33.33 million to a co-purchased
trade receivable facility originated by a non-investment-grade-rated
electricity and energy provider. Transaction-specific credit
enhancement is in the form of overcollateralization and various reserve
accounts, sized at a minimum of 19%. The transaction
is partially supported through a liquidity facility provided by Deutsche
Bank that funds for outstanding eligible receivables net of charged-off
receivables in excess of the transaction-specific credit enhancement.
The transaction requires daily reporting on the pool's performance.
Since the transaction is partially supported by liquidity, Gemini's
program-level credit enhancement was increased by 8% of
its revised purchase limit.
Gemini also has purchased up to $675 million of Saratoga ABCP,
which are backed by two transactions. The first transaction is
a $300 million unrated senior note issued by a newly established
master trust. The note is backed by various collateralized loan
obligations. The second transaction is a $375 million co-purchased
share of two unrated notes backed by middle market CDOs. Both transactions
are fully supported by a liquidity facility provided by Deutsche Bank.
As such, there is no requirement to increase Gemini's program-level
credit enhancement.
Gemini has total asset commitments of $16.2 billion,
with $7.7 billion of outstanding ABCP. Gemini's total
program-level credit enhancement is $591.46 million
(with a floor of $250 million).
BAYERISCHE LANDESBANK'S GIRO BALANCED ENTERS INTO $1 BILLION TOTAL
RETURN SWAP TRANSACTION TO PURCHASE FLOATING RATE NOTE
Giro Balanced Funding Corp. ("GBFC"), a partially supported,
multiseller conduit sponsored by Bayerische Landesbank ("BLB", rated
Aa2/Prime-1/D+), has entered into a $1 billion
total return swap transaction for the purchase of an unrated floating
rate note. The total return swap provided by the Prime-1-rated
BLB fully supports this transaction by absorbing the liquidity,
credit and market value risk.
With this transaction, GBFC is now authorized to issue up to $7.5
billion of ABCP.
THE RATING OF THE FOLLOWING ABCP PROGRAMS WERE WITHDRAWN DURING THE PERIOD
SEPTEMBER 20, 2005 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26, 2005:
SAPPHIRE BLUE'S ABCP PROGRAM RATING WITHDRAWN
In Tokyo, Moody's has withdrawn the Prime-1 rating of Sapphire
Blue ("Sapphire") for business reasons. Sapphire is a partially
supported, Japanese Yen ABCP program sponsored by Aozora Bank,
Ltd. ("Aozora", Baa1/Prime-2/D). As of September
22, 2005, there is no ABCP outstanding and there will be no
further issuance under the program.
For a more detailed description of these ABCP programs, see Moody's
website at http://www.moodys.com
New York
Jonathan Polansky
Managing Director
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
New York
Wanda Lee
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653