Madrid, February 25, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service has today taken multiple rating actions on Spanish
mortgage and public-sector covered bonds. This follows the
rating agency's upgrade of Spain's country ceiling to A1 from A3,
which was prompted by the upgrade of Spain's government bond ratings
to Baa2 (positive) from Baa3 (stable).
Accordingly, a number of covered bond ratings previously constrained
by the sovereign ceiling have been upgraded. In some cases,
the new ratings are capped at A2 in line with Moody's timely payment indicator
(TPI) framework. (See key rating assumptions/factors section below).
Specifically, Moody's has:
- Upgraded the ratings of nine Spanish covered bonds by two notches.
- Upgraded the ratings of three Spanish covered bonds by one notch
A full list of affected ratings is provided at the end of this press release.
This list is an integral part of this press release and identifies each
affected issuer.
For further details on the upgrade of Spain's government bond ratings
and the country ceiling, please refer to the press release published
on 21 February 2014 (https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-upgrades-Spains-government-bond-rating-to-Baa2-assigns-positive--PR_292078)
RATINGS RATIONALE
Today's rating action reflects Moody's upgrade of Spain's
sovereign rating to Baa2 from Baa3, and Spain's country ceiling
to A1 from A3. Accordingly, 12 covered bond ratings in Spain
have now been upgraded in line with the new sovereign ceiling.
Covered bonds whose issuer rating is rated at Baa3 or above have been
upgraded by two notches. Covered bonds whose issuer rating is rated
at Ba1 have been upgraded by one notch. Covered bonds whose issuer
rating is rated below Ba1 are not affected by the upgrade of Spain's
country ceiling due to the TPI framework.
Moody's notes that the TPI for both mortgage and public-sector
covered bonds has been maintained at "Probable".
KEY RATING ASSUMPTIONS/FACTORS
Moody's determines covered bond ratings using a two-step process:
an expected loss analysis and a TPI framework analysis.
EXPECTED LOSS: Moody's uses its Covered Bond Model (COBOL) to determine
a rating based on the expected loss on the bond. COBOL determines
expected loss as (1) a function of the issuer's probability of default
as measured by the issuer's rating; and (2) the stressed losses on
the cover pool assets following issuer default.
TPI FRAMEWORK: Moody's assigns a "timely payment indicator" (TPI),
which indicates the likelihood that the issuer will make timely payments
to covered bondholders if the issuer defaults. The TPI framework
limits the covered bond rating to a certain number of notches above the
issuer's rating.
FACTORS THAT WOULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
The issuer's credit strength is the main determinant of a covered bond
rating's robustness. The TPI Leeway measures the number of notches
by which Moody's might downgrade the issuer's rating before the rating
agency downgrades the covered bonds because of TPI framework constraints.
A multiple-notch downgrade of the covered bonds might occur in
certain limited circumstances, such as (1) a sovereign downgrade
negatively affecting both the issuer's senior unsecured rating and the
TPI; (2) a multiple-notch downgrade of the issuer; or
(3) a material reduction of the value of the cover pool.
LIST OF RATINGS UPGRADES
Mortgage covered bond programmes:
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Banca
March S.A. - Cedulas Hipotecarias
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Banco
Santander S.A. (Spain) - Cedulas Hipotecarias
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Santander
Consumer Finance
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. - Cedulas Hipotecarias
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by CaixaBank
- Cedulas Hipotecarias
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Caja
Rural de Navarra - Mortgage Covered Bonds
Upgraded to A2 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by BANKINTER,
S.A. Mortgage Covered Bonds
Upgraded to A2 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Kutxabank
- Covered Bonds
Upgraded to A2 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Bankoa
S. A. - Cedulas Hipotecarias
Public sector covered bond programmes:
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Banco
Santander S.A. (Spain) - Cedulas Territoriales
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. Public Sector Covered
Bonds
Upgraded to A1 from A3 the ratings on the covered bonds issued by CaixaBank
- Cedulas Territoriales
Please see here for more details:(http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBS_SF357887)
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Approach
to Rating Covered Bonds" published in July 2012. Please see the
Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
The credit ratings of the covered bonds were assigned in line with Moody's
existing credit rating methodology entitled "Moody's Approach to Rating
Covered Bonds", dated July 2012. Moody's notes that on 19
September 2013 it published a request for comment (RFC) in which the rating
agency proposed an adjustment to the anchor point it uses in its covered
bond analysis. If the revised credit rating methodology is implemented
as proposed, the credit ratings of the covered bonds may be affected.
Please refer to Moody's request for comment, titled "Approach to
Determining the Issuer Anchor Point for Covered Bonds" for further details
regarding the implications of the proposed credit rating methodology changes
on Moody's credit ratings. For further details, please see
https://www.moodys.com/research/Approach-to-Determining-the-Issuer-Anchor-Point-for-Covered-Bonds--PBS_SF342448.
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 did not use any stress scenario simulations in its analysis.
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
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
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.
Jose I de Leon
Senior Vice President
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Espana, S.A.
Calle Principe de Vergara, 131, 6 Planta
Madrid 28002
Spain
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Juan Pablo Soriano
MD - Structured Finance
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Espana, S.A.
Calle Principe de Vergara, 131, 6 Planta
Madrid 28002
Spain
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's upgrades multiple Spanish covered bonds