DBRS Confirms Ratings on Belmont Green Funding 1 Limited

DBRS Ratings Limited (DBRS) confirmed its A (sf) ratings on the Class A1 notes and Class A2 notes (together, the Class A notes) issued by Belmont Green Funding 1 Limited (the Debtor or the Facility).

The ratings address the timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date.

The confirmations follow an annual review of the transaction and are based on the following analytical considerations:

-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults and losses.
-- Portfolio default rate (PD), loss given default (LGD) and expected loss assumptions on the remaining receivables.
-- Current available credit enhancement (CE) to the Class A notes to cover the expected losses at their respective rating levels.
-- No draw-stop events have occurred.

The transaction is a secured funding facility provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland plc (trading as NatWest Markets) to Belmont Green Funding 1 Limited. The transaction initially closed in October 2016 and was subsequently amended in March 2017 and October 2017. The term of the Facility is 24 months from the October 2017 amendment, with possibility for an initial extension to 36 months and a further final extension option to 48 months. The Debtor can purchase residential mortgages originated by Belmont Green Finance Limited (BGFL) through their Vida Homeloans brand.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of August 2018, there were no loans in the portfolio more than 30 days in arrears. The cumulative loss ratio was 0.0%.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS
DBRS conducted a loan-by-loan analysis of the remaining pool of receivables and has maintained its base case PD and LGD assumptions at 11.2% and 20.5% respectively, based on a “worst-case” mortgage portfolio given the eligibility criteria and portfolio concentration limits.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
The Facility is structured to permit a maximum advance rate of 87.0%, equivalent to a minimum level of CE to the Class A notes of 13.0%. CE is provided by subordination of the Class B notes and subordinated loan.

The transaction benefits from a Liquidity Reserve Fund, available to cover senior fees, Class A interest and principal via the Class A principal deficiency ledger.

Elavon Financial Services DAC, U.K. Branch (Elavon) acts as the account bank for the transaction. The DBRS private rating of Elavon is consistent with the Minimum Institution Rating, given the rating assigned to the Class A notes, as described in DBRS's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

NatWest Markets Plc acts as the swap counterparty for the transaction. DBRS's public Long-Term Critical Obligations Rating of NatWest Markets Plc at ‘A’ is above the First Rating Threshold as described in DBRS's "Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

Notes:
All figures are in British pound sterling unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the ratings is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology”. DBRS has applied the principal methodology consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the principal methodology.

An asset and a cash flow analysis were both conducted. Due to the inclusion of a revolving period in the transaction, the analysis continues to be based on the worst-case replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

A review of the transaction legal documents was not conducted as the legal documents have remained unchanged since the most recent rating action.

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 investor reports provided by Elavon Financial Services DAC, U.K. Branch and loan-level data provided by Belmont Green Finance Limited.

DBRS did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis. At the time of the initial rating, DBRS was 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.

This is the first rating action on this transaction since the initial rating date on 4 October 2017.

The lead analyst responsibilities for this transaction have been transferred to Andrew Lynch.

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

To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the rating, DBRS considered the following stress scenarios as compared with the parameters used to determine the rating (the “Base Case”):

-- DBRS expected a lifetime base case PD and LGD for the pool based on a review of the current assets. Adverse changes to asset performance may cause stresses to base case assumptions and therefore have a negative effect on credit ratings.
-- The base case PD and LGD of the current pool of loans for the Issuer are 11.2% and 20.5%, respectively.
-- The Risk Sensitivity overview below illustrates the ratings expected if the PD and LGD increase by a certain percentage over the base case assumption. For example, if the LGD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class A notes would be expected to fall to BBB (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class A notes would be expected to fall to BBB (sf), assuming no change in the LGD. Furthermore, if both the PD and LGD increase by 50%, the rating of the Class A notes would be expected to fall to BB (high) (sf).

Class A Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (high)(sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of BBB (high)(sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating of BBB (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BB (high)(sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of BB (high)(sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BB (high)(sf)

For further information on DBRS historic 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 US regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Andrew Lynch, Assistant Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 4 October 2017

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

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers
-- European RMBS Insight Methodology -- European RMBS Insight: U.K. Addendum
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators

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.