DBRS Morningstar Confirms Intesa’s State Gteed Notes at BBB (high) after Sovereign Rating Action

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s (Intesa or the Bank) BBB (high) ratings on the State Guaranteed Notes (ISINs: IT0005238859, IT0005239535), with a Stable trend.

RATING RATIONALE
Today’s rating action follows DBRS Morningstar’s confirmation of Italy’s Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency ratings of BBB (high), and Short-Term Foreign and Local currency ratings of R-1 (low), all with a Stable trend, on November 15, 2019.

The Notes are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the Italian State, therefore the ratings on these Notes are at the same level as DBRS Morningstar’s ratings on the Republic of Italy.

The bonds backed by the State Guarantee were previously issued by the former Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza, and subsequently acquired by Intesa.

RATING DRIVERS
Given the guarantee, the ratings on the State Guaranteed Notes will move in line with the ratings of the Republic of Italy. Upward rating pressure on the ratings for the State Guaranteed Notes would require an improvement of the ratings for the Italian Sovereign. Downward pressure would be driven by a downgrade of the Sovereign’s ratings.

Notes:
All figures are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal applicable methodology is the DBRS Criteria: Guarantees and Other Forms of Support (January 2019). This can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies

The sources of information used for this rating include Company Documents and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). DBRS Morningstar considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating to be of satisfactory quality.

DBRS Morningstar 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.

Generally, the conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive Trend are resolved within a twelve month period. DBRS Morningstar's outlooks and ratings are under regular surveillance.

For further information on DBRS Morningstar 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 GmbH are subject to EU and US regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Nicola De Caro, Senior Vice President – Global FIG
Rating Committee Chair: Elisabeth Rudman - Managing Director, Head of European FIG - Global FIG
Initial Rating Date: September 13, 2013
Last Rating Date: July 16, 2019

DBRS Ratings GmbH
Neue Mainzer Straße 75
60311 Frankfurt am Main Deutschland
Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com.