London, 10 April 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings on the following notes
issued by Aquarius + Investments plc:
Issuer: Aquarius + Investments Plc
....EUR245M Series Dynamo 1 Class 3C Notes,
Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded
to A1 (sf)
....EUR32.5M Dynamo Series 2 DPPN Class
3AE Notes, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21,
2012 Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....JpnY3000M Dynamo Series 2 DPPN Class 4CJ
Notes, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012
Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....EUR40M Danske Notes Class E-10
EUR 40,000,000 100% Principal Protection Notes due
2017, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012
Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....EUR5M Series 2 Credit Strategy Principal
Protected Notes Class E EUR 5,000,000 Credit Strategy Principal
Protected Notes due 2015, Upgraded to A1 (sf); previously on
Jun 23, 2012 Downgraded to A2 (sf)
....Axiom Series 1 Class AU-10 USD
10,000,000 100% Principal Protection due 2016,
Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded
to A1 (sf)
....Axiom Series 1 Tranche 2 Class AU-10k
USD 40,000,000 100% Principal Protection Notes due
2016, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012
Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....Axiom Series 1 Tranche 2 Class AU-10k
USD 25,000,000 100% Principal Protection Notes due
2016, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012
Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....Axiom Series 1 Class BE-10 EUR
123,000,000 100% Principal Protection due 2016,
Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded
to A1 (sf)
....Axiom Series 1Tranche 2 Class BE-10
EUR 123,000,000 100% Principal Protection due 2016,
Upgraded to Aa3 (sf); previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded
to A1 (sf)
....Azur Class CC-10 CHF 66,300,000
100% Principal Protection due 2017, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf);
previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....Azur Class CE-10 EUR 61,200,000
100% Principal Protection due 2017, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf);
previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....Azur Class DE-7 EUR 121,000,000
100% Principal Protection due 2014, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf);
previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded to A1 (sf)
....Azur Class DE-10 EUR 18,000,000
100% Principal Protection due 2017, Upgraded to Aa3 (sf);
previously on Nov 21, 2012 Downgraded to A1 (sf)
These ratings address the repayment of principal only by the legal final
maturity. They do not address coupon payments.
All transactions, except for the Series 2 Credit Strategy Principal
Protected Notes, issued by Aquarius + Investments Plc apply
the CPPI technique which ensures that there is always sufficient cash
to purchase a zero-coupon at any time. Such zero-coupon
enables the payment of the protected principal at maturity. In
these transactions, Moody's analysis focuses on the credit exposure
to BNP Paribas due to the repurchase agreement ('Repo') entered into by
the issuer with BNP Paribas as Repo Counterparty.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's explained that the rating action taken today is the result of
a rating action on BNP Paribas, which was upgraded to A1 from A2
on 4 April 2014. For further information on the underlying action
see the press release titled "Moody's upgrades BNP Paribas
to A1 and assigns stable outlook" on www.moodys.com.
Moody's assumes strong linkage to BNP Paribas (as explained in the previous
rating action taken on 21 November 2012 "Moody's downgrades
notes of Aquarius + Investments plc") because the structures
rely on BNP Paribas as a provider of the principal protection at maturity,
based on its role as Repo Counterparty. The ratings on all notes
other than Series 2 Credit Strategy Principal Protected Notes Class E,
reflect such a linkage with a one-notch uplift over the rating
of BNP Paribas due to the presence of a replacement trigger of the Repo
Counterparty upon the loss of Baa3/P-2.
Aquarius + Investments Plc Series 2 Credit Strategy Principal Protected
Notes Class E represents the repackaging of assets purchased via a 90
day repurchase agreement with BNP Paribas. The repo assets will
be selected by BNP Paribas and are subject to certain criteria.
BNP Paribas, under the notes, pays the payment of principal
on the scheduled maturity date and any shortfall of the market value of
the collateral upon an early termination. Therefore the rating
on the notes reflects primarily the rating of BNP Paribas.
Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Approach
to Rating Repackaged Securities" published in April 2010. 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 ratings:
Given the nature of the structure and the strong linkage to BNP Paribas,
noteholders are mainly exposed to the credit risk of BNP Paribas.
A downgrade or upgrade of BNP Paribas could trigger a downgrade or upgrade
on the Notes.
Moody's notes that these transactions are subject to a high level
of macroeconomic uncertainty, which could negatively impact the
ratings of the notes, as evidenced by 1) uncertainties of credit
conditions in the general economy and 2) more specifically, any
uncertainty associated with the underlying credits in the transaction
could have a direct impact on the repackaged transactions.
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 receive or take into account a third party assessment
on the due diligence performed regarding the underlying assets or financial
instruments related to the monitoring of these transactions in the past
six months.
Moody's did not use any models, or loss or cash flow analysis,
in its analysis.
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.
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.
Mariona Serrat
Associate 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
Neelam S Desai
Senior Vice President/Manager
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 ratings on Repack notes of Aquarius + Investments plc