DBRS Upgrades Ratings on BBVA Covered Bond Programme to AA (low)

DBRS Ratings Limited (DBRS) has today upgraded the ratings on the Cédulas Hipotecarias (CH or the Spanish mortgage covered bonds) issued by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentiaria (BBVA) Covered Bond Programme (BBVA or the Issuer) to AA (low) from A (high) following the implementation of the DBRS “Rating European Covered Bonds” methodology published on 17 December 2014 (the Methodology).

The rating actions reflect a material update to the methodology DBRS uses to rate and monitor European covered bonds. The Methodology supersedes the previous methodology “Rating European Covered Bonds” published 30 January 2014.

The upgrade of the CH to AA (low) from A (high) is based on the following analytical considerations:
-- A Covered Bonds Attachment Point (CBAP) of “A,” being the Issuer and Senior Debt Rating of BBVA. BBVA is the Issuer and Reference Entity for the programme.
-- A legal and structuring framework (LSF) assessment of Average assigned to the CH.
-- An LSF-implied likelihood (LSF-L) of “A.” In DBRS’s view, the CH’s LSF-L is limited by the CBAP.
-- Two notches uplift for high recovery prospects. DBRS has formed a view on the availability and sufficiency of the cover pool to satisfy the claims of the CH holders in a post-Issuer insolvency scenario.
-- A level of overcollateralization (OC) that DBRS gives credit to of 92%, being the minimum observed OC level during the past 12 months adjusted by a scaling factor of 0.85.

Everything else equal, a downgrade of the reference entity rating by one notch would lead to a downgrade of the LSF-L by one notch, resulting in a downgrade of the covered bonds rating by one notch.

In addition everything else equal, the ratings of the CH would be downgraded if any of the following occurs: (1) the sovereign rating of the Kingdom of Spain were downgraded below A (low) or (2) the quality and consistency of the cover pool were no longer sufficient to support two notches uplift for high recovery prospects.

As at 30 September 2014, the total outstanding amount of CH is €32.38 billion, while the aggregate balance of the mortgages in the cover pool is €82.36 billion, resulting in a total OC of 154%.

For further information on BBVA, please refer to the ratings report available on www.dbrs.com.

DBRS has assessed the LSF related to BBVA as Average according to its rating methodology. This is in line with the DBRS LSF assessment for other Spanish CH programmes. For more information, please refer to the DBRS Commentary “Spanish Mortgage Covered Bonds: Legal and Structuring Framework Review” and “DBRS Assigns Legal and Structuring Framework Assessment to Spanish Mortgage Covered Bonds Programmes” available at www.dbrs.com.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable is: Rating European Covered Bonds (December 2014). This can be found at http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies. Other methodologies and criteria referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

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 at http://www.dbrs.com/industries/bucket/id/10036/name/commentaries/.

The sources of information used for this rating include historical default performance data and cover pool stratification tables provided by BBVA that allowed DBRS to further assess the portfolio. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.

DBRS does not audit the information it receives in connection with the rating process, and it does not and cannot independently verify that information in every instance.

The last rating action on this programme took place on 20 February 2014, when DBRS confirmed ratings on BBVA.

Information regarding DBRS ratings, including definitions, policies and methodologies are available on www.dbrs.com.

For further information on DBRS historic default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Administration in a central repository, see
http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml.

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

Initial Lead Analyst: Vito Natale
Initial Rating Date: 20 February 2013
Initial Rating Committee Chair: Claire Mezzanotte

Lead Analyst: Covadonga Aybar
Rating Committee Chair: Quincy Tang

The lead and back-up responsibilities for this transaction have been transferred to Covadonga Aybar and Vito Natale respectively.

DBRS Ratings Limited
1 Minster Court, 10th Floor
Mincing Lane
London
EC3R 7AA
United Kingdom

Registered in England and Wales: No. 7139960

The rating methodologies and criteria used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies.

• Rating European Covered Bonds
• Global Methodology for Rating Banks & Banking Organisations
• Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
• Master European Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Rating Methodology and Jurisdictional Addenda
• Rating CLOs Backed by Loans to European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology
• Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers
• Unified Interest Rate Model Methodology for European Securitisations