London, 02 July 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service has today upgraded the ratings of 12 notes in
Paragon Mortgages (No.7) plc, Paragon Mortgages (No.9)
plc and Paragon Mortgages (No.11) plc. Additionally Moody's
Investors Service has upgraded the Counterparty Instrument Rating (CIR)
associated with Class Cb cross currency swap in Paragon Mortgages (No.9)
plc. Today's rating actions primarily reflect the assignment of
counterparty risk assessments (CR Assessments) to various FX swap counterparties
and an update in collateral assumptions. At the same time,
Moody's confirmed the ratings of all remaining 6 tranches in these three
transactions.
See towards the end of the ratings rationale section of this press release
for a detailed list of affected ratings.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Today's upgrades reflect (1) the assignment of the CR Assessments to the
Swap Counterparties, and (2) update in collateral assumptions,
whereas the rating confirmations are driven by sufficient credit enhancement.
--- ASSIGNMENT OF NEW COUNTERPARTY RISK (CR) ASSESSMENT
The assignment of the CR Assessments, which is higher than the corresponding
senior unsecured rating for Barclays Bank PLC and also an upgrade from
the previous unsecured rating used for The Royal Bank of Scotland plc
(RBS), have resulted in a decrease in the probability of losing
the benefit of hedging provided by the Swap Counterparties.
A CR Assessment reflects the probability that a bank will default on certain
senior operating obligations and other contractual commitments.
Moody's uses CR Assessments to measure the risk of default for various
bank exposures faced by structured finance transactions, including
exposures to swap counterparties.
-- REVISION OF KEY COLLATERAL ASSUMPTIONS
Moody's has reduced the MILAN CE as follows:
i) Paragon Mortgages (No.7) plc to 12.50% from 14.50%
ii) Paragon Mortgages (No.9) plc to 14% from 17.77%
iii) Paragon Mortgages (No.11) plc to 14% from 17.50%
And has maintained the Expected Loss assumptions for all three transactions.
--- COUNTERPARTY INSTRUMENT RATING (CIR)
CIR measures the risk posed to a counterparty arising from a special purpose
vehicle's (SPV) inability to honor its obligations under the referenced
financial contract. The rating does not address potential losses
in relation to any market risk associated with the transaction.
Following the CIR methodology, "Moody's Approach to Counterparty
Instrument Ratings" published in June 2015 (http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBS_SF406099),
the CIR is determined in 2 steps; the first step, the expected
loss assuming no counterparty default, and the second step,
counterparty linkage analysis.
The expected loss for the counterparty will usually match that of the
pari passu-ranking notes without considering the linkage to the
swap counterparty; in this case, Class Cb.
The second step, counterparty linkage analysis, determines
whether the rating from the first step should be further adjusted due
to linkage to the counterparty itself, RBS. The analysis
incorporates a probability uplift and a severity modifier.
Moody's now gives a 3-notch probability uplift. Probability
uplift assesses whether the swap will be transferred to a different counterparty
before current counterparty defaults. It also assesses the likelihood
of the swap being out-the-money at counterparty default
and the termination payment being subordinated in the payment priority.
Principal methodologies:
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Approach
to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework" published in January 2015.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of this methodology.
The analysis undertaken by Moody's at the initial assignment of
ratings for RMBS securities may focus on aspects that become less relevant
or typically remain unchanged during the surveillance stage. Please
see Moody's Approach to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework for
further information on Moody's analysis at the initial rating assignment
and the on-going surveillance in RMBS.
The methodology used in rating 'Cross crurrency swap for class Cb' for
Paragon Mortgages (No. 9) PLC was "Moody's Approach to Counterparty
Instrument Ratings" published in June 2015. Please see the Credit
Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Factors that could lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:
Factors or circumstances that could lead to an upgrade of the ratings
include (1) better-than-expected performance of the underlying
collateral; (2) deleveraging of the capital structure; and (3)
improvements in the credit quality of the transaction counterparties (4)
a decline in counterparty risk.
Factors or circumstances that could lead to a downgrade of the ratings
include (1) a worse than expected performance of the underlying collateral
(2) deterioration in the notes' available credit enhancement (3) deterioration
in the credit quality of the transaction counterparties (4) an increase
in counterparty risk.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
Issuer: Paragon Mortgages (No. 7) PLC
....US$450M A1a Notes, Confirmed
at A1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 A1 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....GBP220M A1b Notes, Confirmed at
A1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 A1 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....EUR500M A1c Notes, Confirmed at
A1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 A1 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....EUR65M B1b Notes, Upgraded to Baa1
(sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa3 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....US$82.5M B1a Notes,
Upgraded to Baa1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa3 (sf)
Placed Under Review for Possible Upgrade
Issuer: Paragon Mortgages (No. 9) PLC
....GBP346M Aa Notes, Upgraded to Aa1
(sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa2 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....EUR355M Ab Notes, Upgraded to Aa1
(sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa2 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....US$60M Ac Notes, Upgraded
to Aa1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa2 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....GBP7M Ba Notes, Upgraded to A1 (sf);
previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa2 (sf) Placed Under Review for Possible
Upgrade
....EUR29.5M Bb Notes, Upgraded
to A1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa2 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....GBP3M Ca Notes, Upgraded to A3 (sf);
previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa3 (sf) Placed Under Review for Possible
Upgrade
....EUR66M Cb Notes, Upgraded to A3
(sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa3 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....Cross Currency Swap for Class Cb Notes,
Upgraded to A3 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Baa2 (sf) Placed
Under Review for Possible Upgrade
Issuer: Paragon Mortgages (No. 11) PLC
....US$985M A1 Notes, Confirmed
at Aa1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa1 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....GBP149.5M A2a Notes, Confirmed
at Aa1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa1 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR219.7M A2b Notes, Confirmed
at Aa1 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa1 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....GBP16M B1a Notes, Upgraded to Aa2
(sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa3 (sf) Placed Under Review
for Possible Upgrade
....EUR82.4M B1b Notes, Upgraded
to Aa2 (sf); previously on Mar 20, 2015 Aa3 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR87.5M C1b Notes, Upgraded
to A2 (sf); previously on Dec 23, 2014 Downgraded to A3 (sf)
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.
The analysis relies on an assessment of collateral characteristics to
determine the collateral loss distribution, that is, the function
that correlates to an assumption about the likelihood of occurrence to
each level of possible losses in the collateral. As a second step,
Moody's evaluates each possible collateral loss scenario using a
model that replicates the relevant structural features to derive payments
and therefore the ultimate potential losses for each rated instrument.
The loss a rated instrument incurs in each collateral loss scenario,
weighted by assumptions about the likelihood of events in that scenario
occurring, results in the expected loss of the rated instrument.
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.
Gaby Trinkaus
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Christophe de Noaillat
MD - Structured Finance
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Ashan Nazeer
Associate Analyst
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's upgrades notes in 3 UK RMBS Paragon transactions