DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Certain Series 2017-2 Notes Issued by Muskoka USD Limited

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) assigned the following provisional ratings to the Series 2017-2 Class A Guarantee Linked Notes (the Class A Notes), the Series 2017-2 Class B Guarantee Linked Notes (the Class B Notes) and the Series 2017-2 Class C Guarantee Linked Notes (the Class C Notes; and together with the Class A Notes and Class B Notes, the Notes) to be issued by Muskoka USD Limited (Muskoka or the Issuer) referencing the Loan Portfolio Financial Guarantee (the Financial Guarantee) to be dated on or about September 28, 2017, between Muskoka as Guarantor and the Bank of Montreal (rated AA with a Negative trend by DBRS) as Beneficiary with respect to a portfolio of primarily U.S. and Canadian senior secured and senior unsecured loans:

-- Class A Notes at AA (sf)
-- Class B Notes at A (sf)
-- Class C Notes at BBB (low) (sf)

The provisional ratings on the Notes address the timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the Scheduled Termination Date (as defined in the Financial Guarantee referenced above). The payment of the interest due to the Notes is subject to the Beneficiary’s ability to pay the Guarantee Fee Amount (as defined in the Financial Guarantee referenced above).

To assess portfolio credit quality, for each corporate obligor in the portfolio, DBRS relies on DBRS ratings and public ratings from other rating agencies or DBRS may provide a credit estimate, internal assessment or ratings mapping of the Beneficiary’s internal ratings model. Credit estimates, internal assessments and ratings mappings are not ratings; rather, they represent an abbreviated analysis, including model-driven or statistical components of default probability for each obligor that is used in assigning a rating to the facility sufficient to assess portfolio credit quality.

On the Effective Date (as defined in the Financial Guarantee referenced above), the Issuer will utilize the proceeds of the issue of the Class A Notes and Class E Notes to make a deposit into the Class A and Class E Cash Deposit Accounts and the proceeds of the issue of the Class B Notes, the Class C Notes and the Class D Notes to make a deposit into the Class B, C and D Cash Deposit Accounts (together, the Cash Deposit Banks). DBRS may review the ratings on the Notes in the event of a downgrade of the Cash Deposit Banks below certain thresholds, as defined in the transaction documents.

Following the delivery of an Enforcement Notice (as defined in the Terms and Conditions of the Notes), amounts payable will be applied in accordance with the Post-Enforcement Priority of Payments (as defined in the Terms and Conditions of the Notes), which could affect DBRS’s ratings of the Notes at that time.

The ratings reflect the following:
(1) The draft Financial Guarantee to be dated on or about September 28, 2017.
(2) The integrity of the transaction structure.
(3) DBRS’s assessment of the portfolio quality.
(4) Adequate credit enhancement to withstand projected collateral loss rates.

Notes:
The principal methodologies are Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit and Mapping Financial Institution Internal Ratings to DBRS Ratings for Global Structured Credit Transactions, which can be found on dbrs.com under Methodologies.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities.