DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Certain Tranche Amounts of Muskoka 2018-1

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) assigned the following provisional ratings to the Tranche A Amount, Tranche B Amount and Tranche C Amount (collectively, the Tranche Amounts) of two unexecuted, unfunded financial guarantees (the Financial Guarantees) with respect to a portfolio of primarily U.S. and Canadian senior secured or senior unsecured loans originated or managed by Bank of Montreal (BMO; rated AA with a Stable trend by DBRS):

-- Tranche A Amount at AAA (sf)
-- Tranche B Amount at A (sf)
-- Tranche C Amount at BBB (low) (sf)

The provisional ratings on the Tranche Amounts address the likelihood of a reduction to the respective Tranche Amounts due to a Tranche Loss Balance on each respective tranche resulting from defaults and losses within the guaranteed portfolio during the period from the Effective Date until the Scheduled Termination Date (as defined in the Financial Guarantees referenced above).

The ratings assigned by DBRS are expected to remain provisional until the underlying agreements are executed. BMO may have no intention of executing the Financial Guarantees. DBRS will maintain and monitor the provisional ratings throughout the life of the transaction or while it continues to receive performance information.

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.

The ratings reflect the following:
(1) The draft Financial Guarantees.
(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:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

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.

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