Frankfurt am Main, September 17, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has
today upgraded the ratings of 4 notes in Finance Ireland RMBS No.
1 Designated Activity Company. The rating action reflects the better
than expected collateral performance and increased levels of credit enhancement
for the affected notes.
Moody's affirmed the rating of the Class A Notes that had sufficient credit
enhancement to maintain their current rating.
....EUR245.2M Class A Notes,
Affirmed Aaa (sf); previously on Mar 16, 2021 Affirmed Aaa
(sf)
....EUR15.9M Class B Notes, Upgraded
to Aaa (sf); previously on Mar 16, 2021 Upgraded to Aa1 (sf)
....EUR8.7M Class C Notes, Upgraded
to Aa2 (sf); previously on Mar 16, 2021 Upgraded to A1 (sf)
....EUR7.9M Class D Notes, Upgraded
to A3 (sf); previously on Mar 16, 2021 Affirmed Baa3 (sf)
....EUR5.8M Class E Notes, Upgraded
to Ba2 (sf); previously on Mar 16, 2021 Affirmed B3 (sf)
Finance Ireland RMBS No. 1 Designated Activity Company is a static
cash securitisation of residential mortgages extended to obligors located
in Ireland by Finance Ireland Credit Solutions DAC and Pepper Finance
Corporation (Ireland) DAC.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The rating action is prompted by decreased key collateral assumptions,
namely the portfolio Expected Loss (EL) and MILAN CE assumptions due to
better than expected collateral performance, as well as an increase
in credit enhancement for the affected tranches.
Revision of Key Collateral Assumptions:
As part of the rating action, Moody's reassessed its lifetime loss
expectation for the portfolio reflecting the collateral performance to
date.
The performance of the transaction has continued to be stable since it
closed in July 2019. Total delinquencies have remained stable over
the course of this year, with 90 days plus arrears currently standing
at only 1.2% of current pool balance. There have
been no losses in the transaction so far, with pool factor currently
at 70.2%.
Moody's decreased the expected loss assumption to 1.8% as
a percentage of original pool balance from 3.2% previously.
This corresponds to an expected loss as a percentage of current pool balance
of 2.6%. The expected loss reduction was based on
the good performance since closing, despite challenging economic
environment, as well as benchmarking with comparable transactions
in Ireland and abroad.
Moody's has also assessed loan-by-loan information as a
part of its detailed transaction review to determine the credit support
consistent with target rating levels and the volatility of future losses.
As a result, Moody's has decreased the MILAN CE assumption
to 14.0% from 15.5%.
Increase in Available Credit Enhancement
Sequential amortization led to the increase in the credit enhancement
available in this transaction.
For instance, the credit enhancement for the most senior tranche
affected by today's rating action increased to 15.90%
from 14.96% since the last rating action in March 2021.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Approach
to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework" published in December 2020 and
available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBS_1248130.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies 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.
Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:
Factors or circumstances that could lead to an upgrade of the ratings
include (1) performance of the underlying collateral that is better than
Moody's expected, (2) an increase in available credit enhancement
and (3) improvements in the credit quality of the transaction counterparties.
Factors or circumstances that could lead to a downgrade of the ratings
include (1) an increase in sovereign risk, (2) performance of the
underlying collateral that is worse than Moody's expected, (3) deterioration
in the notes' available credit enhancement and (4) deterioration in the
credit quality of the transaction counterparties.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
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, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security 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 credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit 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 credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit 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 ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1288435.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square,
Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit
rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement
status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is
available on www.moodys.com.
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.
Johann Grieneisen
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Deutschland GmbH
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Gaby Trinkaus, CFA
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Deutschland GmbH
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454