New York, September 03, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings of 34 tranches from
19 transactions issued by various issuers, backed by Subprime mortgage
loans.
Complete rating actions are as follows:
Issuer: RAMP Series 2003-RS9 Trust
Cl. A-I-6A, Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously
on Apr 8, 2014 Upgraded to Ba1 (sf)
Cl. A-I-6B, Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously
on Apr 8, 2014 Upgraded to Ba1 (sf)
Underlying Rating: Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously on Apr
8, 2014 Upgraded to Ba1 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2003-RZ1 Trust
Cl. A-I-5, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Aug 20, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Cl. A-I-6, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Aug 20, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Cl. A-I-7, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Aug 20, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Cl. A-II, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously on
Aug 20, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2003-RZ2 Trust
Cl. M-1, Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously on
Apr 4, 2012 Confirmed at Ba1 (sf)
Cl. M-2, Upgraded to B3 (sf); previously on Mar
30, 2011 Downgraded to Caa2 (sf)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS1 Trust
A-I-6A, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously on Apr
30, 2012 Confirmed at Ba2 (sf)
A-I-6B, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously on Apr
30, 2012 Confirmed at Ba2 (sf)
Underlying Rating: Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously on Apr
30, 2012 Confirmed at Ba2 (sf)*
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS12 Trust
Cl. M-II-4, Upgraded to Ba3 (sf); previously
on Apr 17, 2012 Downgraded to B2 (sf)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS2 Trust
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously
on Nov 13, 2013 Upgraded to Ba1 (sf)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS4 Trust
Cl. A-I-5, Upgraded to Ba3 (sf); previously
on Feb 7, 2014 Upgraded to B1 (sf)
Cl. A-I-6, Upgraded to Ba2 (sf); previously
on Feb 7, 2014 Upgraded to B1 (sf)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS6 Trust
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to Ba2 (sf); previously
on Feb 7, 2014 Upgraded to B1 (sf)
Issuer: RAMP Series 2004-RS8 Trust
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to Ba2 (sf); previously
on Nov 13, 2013 Upgraded to Ba3 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2001-KS3 Trust
A-I-6, Upgraded to B3 (sf); previously on Mar
30, 2011 Downgraded to Caa1 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2003-KS11 Trust
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to B1 (sf); previously
on Nov 13, 2013 Upgraded to B2 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2003-KS2 Trust
Cl. A-I-5, Upgraded to Ba2 (sf); previously
on Aug 20, 2013 Confirmed at B1 (sf)
Cl. A-I-6, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Aug 20, 2013 Confirmed at Ba3 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2003-KS4 Trust
Cl. A-III, Upgraded to B3 (sf); previously on
Apr 5, 2011 Downgraded to Caa1 (sf)
Financial Guarantor: Ambac Assurance Corporation (Segregated Account
- Unrated)
Cl. M-I-1, Upgraded to B3 (sf); previously
on Apr 5, 2011 Downgraded to Caa2 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2003-KS7 Trust
Cl. A-I-5, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Mar 30, 2011 Downgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Cl. A-I-6, Upgraded to Baa3 (sf); previously
on Mar 30, 2011 Downgraded to Ba1 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2004-KS12 Trust
Cl. M-1, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously on
Aug 23, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Cl. M-2, Upgraded to Caa3 (sf); previously on
Mar 30, 2011 Downgraded to Ca (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2004-KS2 Trust
Cl. A-I-4, Upgraded to Baa1 (sf); previously
on Apr 9, 2012 Upgraded to Baa2 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2004-KS3 Trust
Cl. A-I-4, Upgraded to Baa1 (sf); previously
on Apr 5, 2011 Downgraded to Baa3 (sf)
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to B2 (sf); previously
on Apr 5, 2011 Downgraded to Caa1 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2004-KS5 Trust
Cl. A-I-4, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Dec 19, 2013 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Issuer: RASC Series 2004-KS6 Trust
Cl. A-I-4, Upgraded to Baa1 (sf); previously
on Dec 10, 2013 Upgraded to Baa3 (sf)
Cl. A-I-5, Upgraded to Ba2 (sf); previously
on Apr 9, 2012 Downgraded to Ba3 (sf)
Cl. A-I-6, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Apr 9, 2012 Downgraded to Ba2 (sf)
Cl. M-II-1, Upgraded to B3 (sf); previously
on Dec 10, 2013 Upgraded to Caa1 (sf)
RATINGS RATIONALE
The actions are a result of the recent performance of the underlying pools
and reflect Moody's updated loss expectations on the pools. The
upgrades are a result of improving performance of the related pools and/or
faster pay-down of the bonds due to high prepayments/faster liquidations.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "US RMBS Surveillance
Methodology" published in November 2013. Please see the Credit
Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the rating
Ratings in the US RMBS sector remain exposed to the high level of macroeconomic
uncertainty, and in particular the unemployment rate. The
unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in Juy 2014 from 7.3%
in July 2013. Moody's forecasts an unemployment central range of
6.5% to 7.5% for the 2014 year. Deviations
from this central scenario could lead to rating actions in the sector.
House prices are another key driver of US RMBS performance. Moody's
expects house prices to continue to rise in 2014. Lower increases
than Moody's expects or decreases could lead to negative rating
actions. Finally, performance of RMBS continues to remain
highly dependent on servicer procedures. Any change resulting from
servicing transfers or other policy or regulatory change can impact the
performance of these transactions.
A list of these actions including CUSIP identifiers may be found at:
Excel: http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBS_SF379441
A list of updated estimated pool losses and recoveries is being posted
on an ongoing basis for the duration of this review period and may be
found at:
Excel: http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBS_SF345728
For more information please see www.moodys.com.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions of the disclosure form.
Moody's received and took into account a third party assessment
on the due diligence performed regarding the underlying assets or financial
instruments in these transactions and the assessment had a neutral impact
on the rating.
The analysis includes an assessment of collateral characteristics and
performance to determine the expected collateral loss or a range of expected
collateral losses or cash flows to the rated instruments. As a
second step, Moody's estimates expected collateral losses or cash
flows using a quantitative tool that takes into account credit enhancement,
loss allocation and other structural features, to derive the expected
loss for each rated instrument.
As the section on loss and cash flow analysis describes, Moody's
quantitative analysis entails an evaluation of scenarios that stress factors
contributing to sensitivity of ratings and take into account the likelihood
of severe collateral losses or impaired cash flows. Moody's
weights the impact on the rated instruments based on its assumptions of
the likelihood of the events in such scenarios occurring.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain 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 certain 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 certain 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.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the
associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
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.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Siddharth Jain
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Deepika Kothari
VP - Sr Credit Officer/Manager
Structured Finance 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 upgrades $484 Million of Subprime RMBS issued by various issuers