Madrid, May 17, 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today upgraded the ratings of
two tranches, confirmed two tranches and affirmed five tranches
in three Spanish ABS-SME deals.
Issuer: Fondo de Titulización PYMES SANTANDER 12
....EUR2100M Class A Notes, Affirmed
Aa1 (sf); previously on Apr 24, 2018 Upgraded to Aa1 (sf)
....EUR700M Class B Notes, Upgraded
to Ba3 (sf); previously on Apr 24, 2018 B1 (sf) Placed Under
Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR140M (Current outstanding amount 93.7M)
Class C Notes, Affirmed Ca (sf); previously on Dec 10,
2015 Definitive Rating Assigned Ca (sf)
Issuer: FONDO DE TITULIZACION PYMES SANTANDER 13
....EUR2254.5M Class A Notes,
Confirmed at A1 (sf); previously on Apr 24, 2018 A1 (sf) Placed
Under Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR445.5M Class B Notes,
Confirmed at B2 (sf); previously on Apr 24, 2018 B2 (sf) Placed
Under Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR135M Class C Notes, Affirmed
Caa3 (sf); previously on Jan 22, 2018 Definitive Rating Assigned
Caa3 (sf)
Issuer: GC FTGENCAT CAIXA TARRAGONA 1, FTA
....EUR25.7M (Current outstanding amount
17.8M) Class B Notes Affirmed Aa1 (sf); previously on Apr
24, 2018 Upgraded to Aa1 (sf)
....EUR16.8M (Current outstanding amount
14.4M) Class C Notes, Upgraded to Ba1 (sf); previously
on Apr 24, 2018 Ba2 (sf) Placed Under Review for Possible Upgrade
....EUR13.8M (Current outstanding amount
6.9M) Class D Notes, Affirmed C (sf); previously on
Dec 1, 2017 Affirmed C (sf)
The three transactions are ABS backed by small to medium-sized
enterprise (ABS SME) loans located in Spain and originated by Banco Santander
S.A. ("Banco Santander") (A2/P-1) in PYMES SANTANDER
12 and PYMES SANTANDER 13 and originated by Caixa Catalunya, Tarragona
i Manresa which was merged in 2010 with Catalunya Banc SA, now part
of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (A3/P-2)
in GC FTGENCAT CAIXA TARRAGONA 1, FTA.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Today's upgrades conclude Moody's review, dated 24 April
2018, following the upgrade of the Government of Spain's sovereign
rating to Baa1 from Baa2 and the raising of the country ceiling of Spain
to Aa1 from Aa2( see http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PR_381868,
published on 13 April 2018).
The ratings are also prompted by the increase in the credit enhancement
available for the affected tranches due to portfolio amortization.
Credit Enhancement levels for Class B notes in PYMES SANTANDER 12 have
increased to 11% from 9% over the last 18 months.
In the case of Class C notes in GC FTGENCAT CAIXA TARRAGONA 1 Credit Enhancement
levels have increased to 21.4% from 18.9%
since last upgrade taken on this tranche, last December 2017.
Exposure to counterparties
Today's rating action took into consideration the notes' exposure to relevant
counterparties, such as servicer, account banks or swap providers.
Moody's considered how the liquidity available in the transactions and
other mitigants support continuity of notes payments, in case of
servicer default, using the CR Assessment as a reference point for
servicers.
Moody's also matches banks' exposure in structured finance transactions
to the CR Assessment for commingling risk, with a recovery rate
assumption of 45%.
Moody's also assessed the default probability of the account bank providers
by referencing the bank's deposit rating.
Moody's assessed the exposure to the swap counterparties. Moody's
considered the risks of additional losses on the notes if they were to
become unhedged following a swap counterparty default by using CR Assessment
as reference point for swap counterparties.
Principal Methodology:
The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global Approach
to Rating SME Balance Sheet Securitizations" published in August 2017.
Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
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) deleveraging of the capital structure,
(3) improvements in the credit quality of the transaction counterparties,
and (4) reduction in sovereign risk.
Factors or circumstances that could lead to a downgrade of the ratings
include: (1) performance of the underlying collateral that is worse
than Moody's expected, (2) deterioration in the notes' available
credit enhancement, (3) deterioration in the credit quality of the
transaction counterparties, and (4) an increase in sovereign risk.
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 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.
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.
Angel Jimenez
Analyst
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
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Mehdi Ababou
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Structured Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 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
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454