New York, May 01, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary credit
opinion on Springleaf Finance, Inc. and includes certain
regulatory disclosures regarding its ratings. This release does
not constitute any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for Springleaf
Finance, Inc. and its affiliates.
Moody's current ratings on Springleaf Finance Inc. and its affiliates
are:
Springleaf Finance, Inc.
Commercial Paper (domestic currency) ratings of NP
Springleaf Finance Corporation
Long Term Issuer Rating of B3
Long Term Corporate Family Ratings (domestic currency) ratings of B3
Senior Unsecured (domestic currency) ratings of B3
Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of B3
Senior Unsecured MTN Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)B3
Senior Unsecured Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)B3
Commercial Paper (domestic currency) ratings of NP
CommoLoCo, Inc.
BACKED Commercial Paper ratings of NP
AGFC Capital Trust I
BACKED Preferred Stock (domestic currency) ratings of Caa2 (hyb)
Springleaf Financial Funding Company
BACKED Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility (domestic currency) ratings
of B2
RATING RATIONALE
Springleaf's B3 corporate family rating reflects its position as
an established national branch-based consumer lender, its
conservative credit culture and controls, and its adequate capital
position. These factors are offset by the company's funding constraints
and weak operating performance.
Rating Outlook
The rating outlook is developing, which reflects our view that Springleaf's
ratings have a balanced probability of being either upgraded, affirmed,
or downgraded by mid-2012.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
Springleaf's long-term ratings could be upgraded if the company
demonstrates improved access to funding, strengthens its contingency
funding plan, and returns to an acceptable level of profitability,
based upon improved asset quality performance.
What Could Change the Rating - Down
Ratings could be downgraded if Springleaf's asset quality and earnings
deteriorate beyond current expectations, its capital position weakens
materially, it is unable to establish access to funding that preserves
franchise positioning and improves net interest margin, or if it
seems likely to pursue a financial transaction or restructure that results
in creditor losses.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Finance Company Global
Rating Methodology published in March 2012. Please see the Credit
Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The Global Scale Credit Ratings on this press release that are issued
by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU are endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available on www.moodys.com.
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.
Information sources used to prepare each of the ratings are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these ratings.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
member of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Mark L. Wasden
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Franklyn Young
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's Disclosures on Credit Rating of Springleaf Finance, Inc.