$45 Million of Asset-Backed Securities Rated
New York, October 20, 2010 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned definitive ratings of Aa2 (sf)
to the 2010 Series A Revenue Bonds issued by Connecticut Higher Education
Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) out of the 1990 Resolution.
The underlying collateral consists of private student loans.
Additionally, in accordance with the deal documentation, CHESLA
has requested that Moody's provide its opinion to CHESLA as to whether
the ratings on the outstanding bonds issued out of the 1990 Resolution
would be downgraded or withdrawn as a result of the issuance of the 2010
Series A Revenue Bonds.
Moody's believes that the issuance of the 2010 Series A Revenue
Bonds will not have an adverse effect on the credit quality of the bonds
outstanding. However, Moody's did not express an opinion
as to whether this action had, or could have, other non credit-related
effects that investors may or may not view positively.
Issuer: Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority,
1990 Resolution
$45,000,000 2010 Series A, Revenue Bonds (including
bonds with the following scheduled maturities), rated Aa2 (sf)
Issuer: Connecticut Higher Education Supplement Loan Authority (1990
Indenture)
2010 Ser. A-1, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-2, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-3, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-4, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-5, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-6, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-7, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-8, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-9, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-10, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-11, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-12, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-13, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A-14, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A Term Bond 1, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
2010 Ser. A Term Bond 2, Assigned Aa2 (sf)
RATINGS RATIONALE
The ratings assigned to the bonds are primarily based on the special capital
reserve fund (SCRF) that the State of Connecticut (Aa2) is obligated to
replenish to its required level once a year, but also on the overcollateralization
level which is lower than before the issuance of the 2010 bonds and the
expected positive excess spread after the acquisition period of 1.2%.
Moody's cumulative net loss expectation of the private student loan
pool is approximately 10%.
The principal methodology used in rating Connecticut Higher Education
Supplemental Loan Authority was Moody's Approach to Rating U.S.
Private Student Loan-Backed Securities" rating methodology
published in January 2010. Other methodologies and factors that
may have been considered in the process of rating this issue can also
be found on the Moody's website.
The V Score for this transaction is Low/Medium compared with the Medium/High
V Score assigned for the U.S. Private Student Loan ABS sector.
The lower V Score for this transaction is driven by the obligation of
the State of Connecticut to replenish the SCRF annually, which is
the main source of credit enhancement for the transaction and reduces
the sources of variability that would otherwise be present in a private
student loan-backed transaction.
Moody's V Scores provide a relative assessment of the quality of available
credit information and the potential variability around the various inputs
to a rating determination. The V Score ranks transactions by the
potential for significant rating changes owing to uncertainty around the
assumptions due to data quality, historical performance, the
level of disclosure, transaction complexity, the modeling
and the transaction governance that underlie the ratings. V Scores
apply to the entire transaction (rather than individual tranches).
Moody's Parameter Sensitivities: If the ratings of the State of
Connecticut were changed from Aa2 to Aa3, A1, or A2,
the initial model-indicated rating for the bonds might result in
ratings of Aa3, A1, or A2, respectively. Parameter
Sensitivities are not intended to measure how the rating of the security
might migrate over time, rather they are designed to provide a quantitative
calculation of how the initial model output might change if key input
parameters used in the initial rating process differed. The analysis
assumes that the deal has not aged. Parameter Sensitivities only
reflect the ratings impact of each scenario from a quantitative/model-indicated
standpoint. Qualitative factors are also taken into consideration
in the rating process, so the actual ratings that would be assigned
in each case could vary from the information presented in the Parameter
Sensitivity analysis.
Moody's Investors Service did not receive or take into account a third
party due diligence report on the underlying assets or financial instruments
in this transaction.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Information sources used to prepare the credit rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information, confidential
and proprietary Moody's Analytics' information.
Moody's Investors Service considers the quality of information available
on the issuer or obligation satisfactory for the purposes of assigning
a credit rating.
Additional research, including a pre-sale report for this
transaction is available at www.moodys.com. The special
report "V Scores and Parameter Sensitivities in the U.S.
Student Loan ABS Sector," is also available on moodys.com.
In addition, Moody's publishes a weekly summary of structured finance
credit, ratings and methodologies, available to all registered
users of our website, at www.moodys.com/SFQuickCheck.
MOODY'S adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses
in assigning a credit rating 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 ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on Moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history.
The date on which some Credit Ratings were first released goes back to
a time before Moody's Investors Service's Credit Ratings were fully digitized
and accurate data may not be available. Consequently, Moody's
Investors Service 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 the Credit Policy page on Moodys.com for the methodologies
used in determining ratings, further information on the meaning
of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery.
New York
Pedro Sancholuz Ruda
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
New York
Barbara A. Lambotte
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's Investors Service
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
Moody's Rates Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority Student Loan Transaction Aa2 (sf)