DBRS Assigns “A” Rating to Unione di Banche Italiane S.p.A. Covered Bonds (OBG - Mortgages - Programme 2), Series 6

DBRS Ratings Limited (DBRS) assigned an “A” rating to Series 6 of the Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite (OBG; the Italian legislative covered bonds) issued under the Unione di Banche Italiane S.p.A. Covered Bonds Programme 2 (UBI OBG2 or the Programme), which is guaranteed by UBI Finance CB2 S.r.l.

Concurrently, DBRS confirmed its “A” ratings on all other outstanding OBG under the Programme.

As of today and including the newly issued series, there were six series of OBG outstanding under the Programme, for a total nominal amount of EUR 2.1 billion.

The ratings are based on the following analytical considerations:

-- A Covered Bonds Attachment Point (CBAP) of A (low), being the Long-Term Critical Obligations Rating of Unione di Banche Italiane S.p.A. (UBI). UBI is the Issuer and Reference Entity for the Programme. DBRS does not classify Italy as a jurisdiction in which covered bonds are a particularly important funding instrument; however, DBRS deems the cover assets strategic for the core activity of the Issuer.
-- A Legal and Structuring Framework (LSF) Assessment of “Modest” associated with the Programme.
-- An LSF-Implied Likelihood (LSF-L) floored at A (low).
-- A one-notch uplift for good recovery prospects.
-- No committed overcollateralisation (OC). The minimum observed OC level during the past 12 months is 34.9%. However, DBRS gives credit to a limited level of OC equal to 1.8%, which is considered to be sustainable based on information from the Issuer and expected market developments.

The transaction was analysed with the DBRS European Covered Bond Cash Flow Tool. The main assumptions focused on the timing of defaults and recoveries of the assets and interest rate stresses.

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

In addition, the ratings of the covered bonds would be downgraded if the quality of the CP and the level of OC were no longer sufficient to support a one-notch uplift for good recovery prospects.

BNP Paribas Securities Services, London Branch, acts as the English account bank and qualifies as an eligible institution in accordance with DBRS’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology. No swaps are contemplated under the Programme.

The total outstanding amount of OBG including the newly issued series is EUR 2.1 billion, while the aggregate balance of loans (as at 31 October 2017) in the cover pool (CP) was EUR 3.0 billion of residential (43%) and commercial (57%) mortgages plus EUR 58 million of cash, resulting in a total OC of 42.4%.

As at October 2017, the CP comprised 27,223 mortgage loans originated by network banks of the UBI group. The weighted-average current loan-to-value ratio of the mortgages was 38.4% with a seasoning of 7.8 years. The CP was mainly distributed in Lombardy (46.4%), Piedmont (10.6%) and Lazio (6.9%), Italy.

The CP comprised fixed-for-life loans (11% by outstanding balance) and floating-rate loans (89%), indexed to different plain-vanilla bases and resetting at different dates. In comparison, 100% of the liabilities pay a floating rate linked to a three-month Euribor plus a spread. The resulting interest and basis risks are unhedged. This has been considered in DBRS’s cash flow analysis.

All CP assets and OBG are denominated in euros. As such, investors are not currently exposed to any foreign exchange risk.

The weighted-average life (WAL) of the CP is 6.1 years, whereas the WAL of the OBG including the newly issued series is 3.2 years. This maturity-mismatch risk is mitigated by the 12-month maturity extension in case of an Issuer event of default and by the uncommitted overcollateralisation.

DBRS has assessed the LSF related to the UBI OBG2 as “Modest” according to its rating methodology. For more information, please refer to the DBRS commentary “Italian Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite Legal and Structuring Framework” found at www.dbrs.com.

For further information on the Programme, please refer to the rating report that is available on www.dbrs.com.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the ratings is: “Rating European Covered Bonds.”

In DBRS opinion, the change under consideration doesn’t require the application of the entire principal methodology. Therefore, DBRS focused on the cash flow analysis.

A review of the transaction legal documents was limited to the final terms of Series 6.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release. These may be found on www.dbrs.com at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies.

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to “Appendix C: The Impact of Sovereign Ratings on Other DBRS Credit Ratings” of the “Rating Sovereign Governments” methodology at: http://dbrs.com/research/319564/rating-sovereign-governments.pdf

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include historical performance data, loan-by-loan level data and stratification information on the CP provided by the Issuer.

DBRS did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis.

At the time of the initial rating, DBRS was not supplied with third-party assessments. However, this did not impact the rating analysis.

DBRS considers the data and information available to it for the purposes of providing these ratings to be of satisfactory quality.

DBRS does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the rating process.

The last rating action on this transaction took place on 4 December 2017, when DBRS confirmed the ratings of the CB Series outstanding under UBI CB2 at “A”.

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

For further information on DBRS historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) 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 and U.S. regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Antonio Laudani, Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Christian Aufsatz, Managing Director
Initial Rating Date: 27 October 2015

DBRS Ratings Limited
20 Fenchurch Street, 31st Floor
London
EC3M 3BY
United Kingdom
Registered in England and Wales: No. 7139960

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

-- Rating European Covered Bonds
-- Rating European Covered Bonds Addendum: Market Value Spreads Range (Midpoints)
-- Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations
-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Master European Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Rating Methodology and Jurisdictional Addenda
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers
-- Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit
-- Rating CLOs Backed by Loans to European SMEs
-- Rating Sovereign Governments

A description of how DBRS analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/research/278375.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com or contact us at info@dbrs.com.