DBRS Implements Global Structured Finance Modifier

DBRS has today implemented a structured finance (SF) modifier on a global basis as required by the European Union (EU) Regulation for Credit Rating Agencies (EU CRA Regulation).

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Code of Conduct Fundamentals for Credit Rating Agencies (IOSCO Code) requires that SF ratings be differentiated from corporate bond ratings, preferably through a different rating symbology.* The EU CRA Regulation, which came into effect in December 2009, also requires SF instruments to be clearly differentiated by adding an appropriate symbol or modifier to the rating category.** DBRS will shortly apply for registration under the EU CRA Regulation.

Currently, DBRS press releases specify the type of rating being published, such as whether it is an SF rating, a Financial Institutions rating or a Public Finance rating (the PR Notation). Effective today, the PR Notation on all DBRS press releases will no longer be used.

For its SF modifier, DBRS will use the symbol “(sf)” next to the rating category for ratings that meet the requisite criteria in its press releases and rating reports and on its public website. The “(sf)” symbol will only indicate that the security is an SF instrument and will not change the meaning or definition of the rating in any other way nor will it change the risk of any particular SF instrument. All SF ratings remain unchanged and identical to ratings previously assigned. The SF modifier will simply reflect the fact that the rating applies to a SF instrument. DBRS’s expectation of the performance of each rated SF instrument is not adjusted in any way by the SF modifier.

DBRS will mark the ratings of the following SF instruments with the SF modifier:

• Asset-backed securities (ABS).
• Asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP).
• Residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).
• Single- and multi-tranched collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and credit default swaps (CDSs), with the exception of single-name CDSs.
• Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
• Multi-tranched insurance securitizations.
• Structured investment vehicles (SIVs).
• Repackaged instruments where any of the underlying assets is an SF instrument.

DBRS has its headquarters in Toronto, with offices in New York, Chicago and London, and covers entities worldwide.

Notes:

• Refer to Provision 3.5.b Transparency and Timeliness of Ratings Disclosure in the IOSCO Code, May 2008.
  ** Refer to Paragraph (40) and Article 3 Definitions in the EU CRA Regulation 1060/2009.