Press Release

DBRS Assigns 1 and Confirms 2 Ratings on the Notes issued by F.T.A. SANTANDER EMPRESAS 8

Structured Credit
September 08, 2011

DBRS Ratings Limited (“DBRS”) has today assigned a rating of C (sf) to the €1,290,000,000.00 Series C Notes and confirmed the ratings of AAA (sf) of the €3,697,016,876.85 Series A Notes and B (sf) of the €1,435,100.00 Series B Notes issued by F.T.A. Santander Empresas 8 (the “Issuer”). The transaction is a cashflow securitisation collateralised primarily by a portfolio of bank loans and credit lines originated by Banco Santander, S.A. ("Banco Santander") to Spanish enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”). As of 11 August 2011, the transaction had a current performing portfolio notional amount of €4,790.83 million and included 23,955 loans. The portfolio continues to be serviced by Banco Santander.

The rating of the Series C Notes is based upon DBRS’ review of the following considerations:

• The Series C Notes are in the first loss position.
• As such, the Series C Notes are highly likely to default.
• Because the rating of the Series C Notes addresses the ultimate payment of interest and principal, the default most likely would occur at the maturity of the transaction.

The confirmation of the Series A and Series B Notes is based upon DBRS’ review of the following analytical considerations. All portfolio and account figures are as of 11 August 2011.

• The replacement of the Subordinated Loan with the Series C Notes has no impact on the rating of the Series A and Series B Notes.
• On the two payment dates in April and July 2011, the Series A Notes amortised by €1,318 million, which corresponds to 26.3% of the Series A Notes’ initial balance.
• The performing portfolio balance, defined as loans that are current on all payments of principal and interest, was €4,790.83 million.
• The Reserve Fund was at its initial level of €1,290 million.
• There was approximately €142 million of loan and credit line amortisation proceeds in the Treasury Account.

The confirmation of the ratings of the Series A and Series B Notes are based on the notification of the cancellation of the Subordinated Loan for the Reserve Fund and its replacement with the issuance of the Series C Notes to finance the Reserve Fund.

The rating confirmation by DBRS does not signify the approval of the amendment by DBRS or an opinion by DBRS as to whether the amendment is beneficial or detrimental to the holders of the securities.

The principal methodology is Master European Granular Corporate Securitisations (SME CLOs), which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

The sources of information used for these ratings include parties involved in the rating, including but not limited to F.T.A. SANTANDER EMPRESAS 8, Banco Santander S.A. and Santander de Titulización, S.G.F.T., S.A. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.

For additional information on DBRS European SME CLO(s), please see European Disclosure Requirements, located at http://www.dbrs.com/research/235269.

Lead Analyst: Simon Ross
Rating Committee Chair: Jerry van Koolbergen
Initial Rating Date: 26 January 2011
Most recent Rating Update: 8 August 2011

Notes:
All figures are in Euro unless otherwise noted.

Ratings

FTA SANTANDER EMPRESAS 8
  • Date Issued:Sep 8, 2011
  • Rating Action:Confirmed
  • Ratings:AAA (sf)
  • Trend:--
  • Rating Recovery:
  • Issued:UK
  • Date Issued:Sep 8, 2011
  • Rating Action:Confirmed
  • Ratings:B (sf)
  • Trend:--
  • Rating Recovery:
  • Issued:UK
  • Date Issued:Sep 8, 2011
  • Rating Action:New Rating
  • Ratings:C (sf)
  • Trend:--
  • Rating Recovery:
  • Issued:UK
  • US = Lead Analyst based in USA
  • CA = Lead Analyst based in Canada
  • EU = Lead Analyst based in EU
  • UK = Lead Analyst based in UK
  • E = EU endorsed
  • U = UK endorsed
  • Unsolicited Participating With Access
  • Unsolicited Participating Without Access
  • Unsolicited Non-participating

ALL MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLAIMERS AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. PLEASE READ THESE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS, POLICIES, RATING SCALES AND METHODOLOGIES.