DBRS Confirms the Ratings on Notes Issued by 2012 POPOLARE BARI SME S.r.l. and Removes UR-Negative

DBRS Ratings Limited (“DBRS”) has today confirmed the ratings on the following Notes issued by 2012 POPOLARE BARI SME S.r.l. (“the Issuer”) and has removed them from Under Review with Negative Implications:

• EUR 497,000,000 Class A1 Asset-Backed Floating Rate Notes: A (high) (sf)
• EUR 120,000,000 Class A2 Asset-Backed Floating Rate Notes: A (high) (sf)

The Issuer is a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Italy. The transaction is a cash flow securitisation collateralised by a portfolio of bank loans to Italian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (“SMEs”) and self-employed individuals. The loans were originated by two banks that are part of the Banca Popolare di Bari Group: Banca Popolare di Bari S.C.p.A. (“BPB”) and Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto S.p.A (“CRO”, with BPB are collectively referred to as the “Originators”).

Each of BPB and CRO will act as the Servicers for their respective portfolios. BPB will also act as Master Servicer and Banca Etruria will be the Back-up Servicer.

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

The rating actions reflect the 6 March 2013 downgrade of the Republic of Italy’s long-term and local currency debt to A (low) from 'A', with both ratings remaining on Negative Trend, including the incorporation of a sovereign related stress component in the rating analysis, related to the A (low) rating on trend Negative, to address the impact of macroeconomic variables on collateral performance.

For a more detailed discussion of sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to DBRS commentary “The Effect of Sovereign Risk on Securitisations in the Euro Area”, located at http://dbrs.com/research/239786.

The sources of information used for these ratings include the parties involved in the rating, including but not limited to the Originator, the Issuer and its agents.

Further information on DBRS’s analysis of this transaction is available in a rating report on http://www.dbrs.com, or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

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

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings Limited are subject to EU regulations only.

Initial Lead Analyst: Carlos Silva
Initial Rating Date: 14 December 2012
Lead Surveillance Analyst: Alfonso Candelas
Most Recent Rating Update: 14 March 2013
Rating Committee Chair: Jerry van Koolbergen

Note:
All figures are in Euros unless otherwise noted.