DBRS Morningstar Assigns Provisional Ratings to VCL Multi-Compartment S.A., acting for and on behalf of its Compartment VCL 34

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) assigned provisional ratings to the following classes of notes to be issued by VCL Multi-Compartment S.A., acting for and on behalf of its Compartment VCL 34 (the Issuer):

-- Class A Notes at AAA (sf)
-- Class B Notes at AA (low) (sf)

The Issuer is a public limited company incorporated under the laws of Luxembourg and governed by Luxembourg securitisation law, acting as a special-purpose entity specifically for the purpose of this transaction.

The ratings on both the Class A Notes and Class B Notes (together, the Notes) address the timely payment of scheduled interest and the ultimate repayment of principal by the legal final maturity date.

The provisional ratings are based on information provided to DBRS Morningstar by the Issuer and its agents as of the date of this press release. These ratings will be finalised upon review of the final version of the transaction documents and of the relevant legal opinions.

The Notes are collateralised by a static portfolio of approximately EUR 750 million in receivables related to automotive lease contracts. The transaction only captures the monthly lease instalment element of each lease and does not include the residual value (RV) element, which is normally realised through the ultimate sale of the vehicle at the end of the lease contract. Volkswagen Leasing GmbH (VWL) granted the lease contracts to lessors resident or incorporated in the Federal Republic of Germany. VWL is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. The underlying motor vehicles related to the lease contracts consist of both new and used passenger and light-commercial vehicles. VWL services the receivables.

DBRS Morningstar based its provisional ratings on a review of the following analytical considerations:
-- The transaction’s capital structure, including form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement;
-- Relevant credit enhancement in the form of subordination, a reserve fund, and overcollateralisation;
-- Credit enhancement levels that are sufficient to support DBRS Morningstar’s projected cumulative net loss under various stressed cash flow assumptions for the Notes;
-- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash flow assumptions and repay investors according to the terms under which they have invested;
-- VWL’s capabilities with regard to originations, underwriting, and servicing, and its financial strength;
-- The transaction parties’ financial strength with regard to their respective roles;
-- The credit quality of the collateral and historical and projected performance of the seller’s portfolio;
-- The sovereign rating on the Federal Republic of Germany, currently at AAA with a Stable trend; and
-- The expected consistency of the transaction’s legal structure with DBRS Morningstar’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology and the presence of legal opinions that are expected to address the true sale of the assets to the Issuer.

TRANSACTION STRUCTURE
The transaction incorporates a single waterfall that outlines the allocation of the available distribution amount consisting of, inter alia, collections representing interest, principal, and recoveries. The transaction documents foresee a mixed sequential/pro rata amortisation structure. Initially, all collections from the lease receivables will pay down the Class A Notes (in accordance with the relevant priority of payments). Once the Class A overcollateralisation (OC) percentage reaches 12.25%, the Class B Notes will begin to amortise. Once the Class B OC percentage reaches 7.5%, principal payments on the Notes will be allocated on a pro rata basis, unless specified performance triggers are breached as outlined in the transaction documents.

The transaction benefits from liquidity support provided by an amortising cash reserve, with an initial balance of EUR 9 million (equal to 1.2% of the initial outstanding discounted receivables balance). The target balance of the reserve on subsequent payment dates is the higher of 1.2% of the aggregate discounted receivables balance and the lower of (1) EUR 8 million or (2) the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Notes. The reserve is available to cover the payment of senior expenses, swap payments, and interest on the Notes prior to being replenished. The reserve also provides credit enhancement to the Notes. It is available to repay principal on the Notes when the portfolio’s aggregate discounted receivables balance reaches zero.

All underlying contracts are fixed rate while the Notes pay a floating rate. The Notes are indexed to one-month Euribor. Interest rate risk for the Notes is mitigated through interest rate swaps with an eligible counterparty.

On 9 September 2021, the European Court of Justice ruled in relation to certain cases (C-33/20, C-155/20, and C-187/20) addressing the rights of consumers in Germany to revoke their finance contracts. According to the ruling, the absence of certain mandatory information (relating to default interest and prepayment fees) in the contracts is not compliant with the EU Consumer Credit Directive and, as such, the right to revoke extends past the standard 14-day period (i.e., indefinitely). As this ruling may result in economic incentives for consumers to withdraw from their contracts, it could negatively affect German auto ABS securitisations. DBRS Morningstar is closely monitoring these developments and the impact of the decision on affected transactions. For further details, please refer to the commentary titled "The European Court Resolves Debate on Consumer Rights in Germany but Questions Remain", which can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384995/the-european-court-resolves-debate-on-consumer-rights-in-germany-but-questions-remain.

COUNTERPARTIES
The Bank of New York Mellon, Frankfurt Branch (BNYM Frankfurt) has been appointed to act as account bank for the transaction. Based on DBRS Morningstar’s private rating on BNYM Frankfurt, 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 ratings assigned to the Notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

The swap counterparty for the transaction is yet to be determined. It is expected that the DBRS Morningstar rating on the chosen swap counterparty and the downgrade provisions referenced in the hedging documents will be consistent with DBRS Morningstar’s “Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

DBRS Morningstar analysed the transaction cash flow structure in Intex DealMaker.

CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) CONSIDERATIONS
The coronavirus and the resulting isolation measures have caused an immediate economic contraction, leading in some cases to 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. The ratings are based on additional analysis and adjustments to expected performance as a result of the global efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For this transaction, DBRS Morningstar applied a moderate haircut to its expected recovery rate.

The DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group releases baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereigns. These scenarios were last updated on 8 September 2021. DBRS Morningstar analysis considered impacts consistent with the baseline scenario in the below referenced report. For details, see the following commentaries: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384150/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-for-rated-sovereigns and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384482/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings.

On 8 May 2020, DBRS Morningstar published a commentary outlining how the coronavirus crisis is likely to affect the 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.

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 methodology applicable to the ratings is: “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: http://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

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

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/381451/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group releases baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereigns. DBRS Morningstar analysis considered impacts consistent with the baseline scenarios as set forth in the following report: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384482/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings.

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include the originator and its agent, BofA Securities Europe SA.

DBRS Morningstar received the following data and information:
-- Static cumulative net loss data from July 2011 to June 2021 on a total portfolio basis;
-- Total portfolio-level dynamic delinquency data from January 2010 to June 2021;
-- Summarised stratification tables for the provisional pool as at 31 August 2021; and
-- The portfolio amortisation profile related to the selected pool.

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

DBRS Morningstar was not 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.

These ratings concern expected-to-be-issued new financial instruments. These are the first DBRS Morningstar ratings on these financial instruments.

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

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

-- Expected default rate: 1.4%
-- Expected recovery rate: 60.0%
-- Loss given default (LGD): 64.6% for the AAA (sf) scenario and 59.8% for the AA (low) (sf) scenario

-- Scenario 1: 25% increase in LGD
-- Scenario 2: 50% increase in LGD
-- Scenario 3: 25% increase in PD
-- Scenario 4: 50% increase in PD
-- Scenario 5: 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD
-- Scenario 6: 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD
-- Scenario 7: 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD
-- Scenario 8: 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD

DBRS Morningstar concludes that the expected ratings under the eight stress scenarios would be, respectively:
-- Class A Notes: AAA (sf), AA (high) (sf), AAA (sf), AA (high) (sf), AA (sf), AA (sf), AA (sf), A (high) (sf)
-- Class B Notes: AA (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), AA (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), A (sf), A (sf), A (sf), BBB (high) (sf)

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. 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.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Sofia Borysko, Senior Analyst
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 13 October 2021

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: http://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- 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.
-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (29 July 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/382171/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (30 July 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/382486/rating-european-structured-finance-transactions-methodology.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (16 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384513/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-servicers.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators (16 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384512/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-originators.
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions (24 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384920/interest-rate-stresses-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (20 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384624/derivative-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- 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: http://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].