DBRS Morningstar Takes Rating Actions on Asset-Backed European Securitisation Transaction Fourteen S.r.l. Following Amendment

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) took the following ration actions on the notes (together, the Rated Notes) issued by Asset-Backed European Securitisation Transaction Fourteen S.r.l. (the Issuer):

-- Class A Asset-Backed Fixed-Rate Notes (Class A Notes) upgraded to AA (high) (sf) from AA (sf)
-- Class B Asset-Backed Fixed-Rate Notes (Class B Notes) upgraded to AA (low) (sf) from A (sf)
-- Class C Asset-Backed Fixed-Rate Notes (Class C Notes) upgraded to A (sf) from BBB (high) (sf)
-- Class D Asset-Backed Fixed-Rate Notes (Class D Notes) upgraded to BBB (low) (sf) from BB (high) (sf)
-- Class E Asset-Backed Fixed-Rate Notes (Class E Notes) confirmed at BB (low) (sf)

The ratings of the Rated Notes address the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date in April 2030.

The rating actions are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and losses, as of the March 2021 payment date.
-- Probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD), and expected loss assumptions on the receivables.
-- Current available credit enhancement to the Rated Notes to cover the expected losses at their respective rating levels.
-- Current economic environment and an assessment of sustainable performance, as a result of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
-- No purchase termination events have occurred.
-- A structural amendment to the transaction executed on 21 April 2021.

The transaction, which closed in May 2016, is a securitisation of a portfolio of Italian auto loans originated and serviced by FCA Bank S.p.A (FCAB), a 50/50 joint venture between FCA Italy (Stellantis N.V.) and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance (Crédit Agricole S.A.). The loans were granted to individuals residing in Italy and enterprises with their registered offices in Italy. The transaction had a revolving period ending in April 2021. Following the end of the revolving period, the Notes will begin to amortise immediately from the May 2021 payment date.

The Amendment involves:
-- An increase in the portfolio size through additional notes subscriptions.
-- Re-tranching of the Rated Notes and M1 Notes, where subordination will remain unchanged.
-- The proceeds of the additional note issuance will be used to purchase an additional portfolio of loans totalling EUR 575.0 million and fund an increase in the cash reserve up to EUR 30.0 million from EUR 23.1 million, remaining at 1.4% of the portfolio balance.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the March 2021 payment date, loans two to three months in arrears represented 0.1% of the portfolio net discounted balance, stable since March 2020. The 90+ delinquency ratio was 0.1%, down from 0.2% in March 2020. Gross cumulative defaults amounted to 0.5% of the aggregate initial and additional net portfolio balance.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS
DBRS Morningstar assessed updated static historical default and recovery data provided by FCAB split by product type, and conducted a loan-level analysis of the remaining pool of receivables. DBRS Morningstar updated its base case PD and LGD of the portfolio to 2.0% and 85.0%, respectively. Given the transaction will begin to amortise immediately on the first payment date following the Third-Retranching Date (May 2021 payment date), the portfolio assumptions are based on the current portfolio composition.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
Subordination is provided by the respective junior tranches. On the Third Re-tranching Date, credit enhancement to the Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E Notes remained at 10.0%, 7.0%, 5.0%, 2.4%, and 1.3%.

The transaction benefits from a nonamortising cash reserve, which provides liquidity support to the notes and credit support upon the legal final maturity date. The size of the cash reserve will increase to EUR 30.0 million from EUR 23.1 million using the proceeds of additional issuance of the Class M Notes to maintain the target level of the cash reserve at 1.4% of the portfolio balance at the Third Re-tranching Date.

Elavon Financial Services DAC acts as the account bank for the transaction. Based on the DBRS Morningstar private rating of Elavon Financial Services DAC, the downgrade provisions outlined in the transaction documents, and other mitigating factors inherent in the transaction structure, DBRS Morningstar considers the risk arising from the exposure to the account bank to be consistent with the rating assigned to the Class A Notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

DBRS Morningstar analysed the transaction structure in Intex DealMaker.

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and the resulting isolation measures have caused an economic contraction, leading to sharp increases in unemployment rates and income reductions for many borrowers. DBRS Morningstar anticipates that delinquencies may continue to increase in the coming months for many ABS transactions, some meaningfully. The ratings are based on additional analysis and, where appropriate, adjustments to expected performance as a result of the global efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For this transaction, DBRS Morningstar conducted additional sensitivity analysis to determine that the transaction benefits from sufficient liquidity support to withstand high levels of payment holidays in the portfolio. As of the March 2021 payment date, around 0.9% of the outstanding portfolio was in a payment holiday.

On 16 April 2020, the DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group released a set of macroeconomic scenarios for the 2020–22 period in select economies. These scenarios were last updated on 17 March 2021. For details, see the following commentaries: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/375376/global-macroeconomic-scenarios-march-2021-update and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/359903/global-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings. The DBRS Morningstar analysis considered impacts consistent with the moderate scenario in the referenced reports.

On 8 May 2020, DBRS Morningstar published a commentary outlining how the coronavirus crisis is likely to affect DBRS Morningstar-rated ABS transactions in Europe. For more details, please see: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/360734/european-abs-transactions-risk-exposure-to-coronavirus-covid-19-effect and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/362712/european-structured-finance-covid-19-credit-risk-exposure-roadmap.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

For more information regarding the structured finance rating approach and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/359905.

For more information regarding structured finance rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/358308.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodologies applicable to the ratings are the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (8 February 2021) and “Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations” (3 September 2020).

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

DBRS Morningstar has applied the principal methodologies consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the principal methodologies.

DBRS Morningstar has conducted a review of the transaction legal documents provided in the context of the aforementioned amendment. The other transaction legal documents have remained unchanged since the most recent rating action and as such, a review has not been conducted.

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 Morningstar Credit Ratings” of the “Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments” at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/364527/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include investor reports provided by Elavon Financial Services DAC, as well as historical performance vintage data, loan-by-loan data, and portfolio stratification tables provided by FCAB, directly or indirectly through the transaction arrangers, UniCredit Bank AG, Intesa SanPaolo S.p.A., and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Milan Branch.

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

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

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

DBRS Morningstar 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 26 June 2020, when DBRS Morningstar confirmed its ratings of the Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E Notes at AA (sf), A (sf), BBB (high) (sf), BB (high) (sf), and BB (low) (sf), respectively, and discontinued and withdrew its rating of the Commingling Reserve Facility.

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

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

-- DBRS Morningstar 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 2.0% and 85.0%, 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 remain at AA (high) (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class Notes would be expected to fall to AA (low) (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 A (sf).

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

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

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

Class D Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of BB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BB (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of BB (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)

Class E Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating below B (sf)

For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: https://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml.

DBRS Morningstar understands further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates may be published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its webpage: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/credit-rating-agencies.

These ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Christian Aufsatz, Managing Director
Initial Rating Date: 16 May 2016

DBRS Ratings GmbH
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Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500
Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
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The rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (6 April 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/376314/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (8 February 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373435/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (19 November 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/370270/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-servicers.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators (30 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/367603/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-originators.
-- Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations (3 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/366294/rating-european-consumer-and-commercial-asset-backed-securitisations.
-- Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (21 July 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/364305/rating-european-structured-finance-transactions-methodology.
-- DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (3 February 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

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

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at [email protected].