DBRS Confirms Rating on the Class A Notes issued by Asti Finance PMI S.r.l. and Removes UR-Negative

DBRS Ratings Limited (“DBRS”) has today confirmed the AA (low) (sf) rating on the EUR 144,807,038 Class A Notes issued by Asti Finance PMI S.r.l. (“the Issuer”) and has removed them from Under Review with Negative Implications.

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”) which were originated by Cassa di Risparmio di Asti S.p.A. (the “Originator” or “C.R. Asti”). The rating on the Class A Notes addresses the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal payable on or before the Maturity Date, on the Interest Payment Date occurring in October 2062.

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

C.R. Asti acts as the Originator and Servicer of the portfolio, and as such collects all payments from the borrowers before transferring the proceeds to the Transaction Bank. BNP Paribas Securities Services, London Branch is the Transaction Branch and BNP Paribas Securities Services, Milan Branch is the Italian Account Bank.

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: Mudasar Chaudhry
Initial Rating Date: 9 May 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.