DBRS Morningstar Confirms Rating of Bastion 2021-1 NHG B.V.

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed its AAA (sf) rating of the Class A notes issued by Bastion 2021-1 NHG B.V. (the Issuer).

The rating of the Class A notes addresses the timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date in August 2056.

The confirmation follows an annual review of the transaction and is based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and losses, as of the November 2021 payment date.
-- Portfolio default rate (PD), loss given default (LGD), and expected loss assumptions on the remaining receivables.
-- Current available credit enhancement to the Class A notes to cover the expected losses at the AAA (sf) rating level.
-- Current economic environment and an assessment of sustainable performance, as a result of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Issuer is a Dutch RMBS transaction of prime first-lien mortgages secured over owner-occupied residential properties originated by HollandWoont B.V. The portfolio is also serviced by HollandWoont B.V., with Quion Services B.V. acting as sub-servicer.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the November 2021 payment date, two- to three-month arrears represented 0.1% of the outstanding portfolio balance, and loans more than three months in arrears represented 0.0% of the outstanding portfolio balance. The cumulative default ratio was 0.0%.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS
DBRS Morningstar conducted a loan-by-loan analysis of the remaining pool of receivables and updated its base case PD and LGD assumptions to 1.4% and 5.5%, respectively.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
As of the November 2021 payment date, credit enhancement to the Class A notes was 11.2%, up from 10.5% at the DBRS Morningstar initial rating. Credit enhancement consists of subordination of the junior notes and the general reserve fund.

The non-amortising general reserve fund covers senior fees, senior swap payments, interest on the Class A notes, and principal losses via the PDL on the Class A notes. It is currently funded to its target level of EUR 4.1 million, equal to 1% of the initial Class A and Class B notes balance.

The transaction also benefits from a renewable cash advance facility (CAF) provided by BNG Bank N.V. (BNG) equal to 1.5% of the outstanding Class A notes balance, subject to a floor of 1.0% of the initial Class A notes balance. The maximum available amount of the CAF is currently EUR 5.35 million and can be drawn on to cover senior fees, senior swap payments, and Class A interest.

BNG acts as the account bank for the transaction. Based on the DBRS Morningstar private rating of BNG, 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.

Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. acts as the swap counterparty for the transaction. DBRS Morningstar's public Long-Term Critical Obligations Rating of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. at AA (high) is consistent with the First Rating Threshold as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Derivative 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 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 RMBS transactions, some meaningfully. The ratings are based on additional analysis to expected performance as a result of the global efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

For this transaction, DBRS Morningstar increased the expected default rate for self-employed borrowers, and conducted additional sensitivity analysis to determine that the transaction benefits from sufficient liquidity support to withstand potential high levels of payment holidays in the portfolio.

The DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group releases baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereigns. These scenarios were last updated on 9 December 2021. For details, see the following commentaries https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/389454/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-for-rated-sovereigns-december-2021-update and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384482/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings.

On 14 June 2021, DBRS Morningstar updated its 5 May 2020 commentary outlining the impact of the coronavirus crisis on performance of DBRS Morningstar-rated RMBS transactions in Europe one year on. For more details, please see: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/380094/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-european-mortgage-performance-one-year-on and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/360599/european-rmbs-transactions-risk-exposure-to-coronavirus-covid-19-effect.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
DBRS Morningstar considers that the NHG guarantee backing the entire pool is a significant social factor (Social Impact of Product & Services) as outlined within the DBRS Morningstar framework – “DBRS Morningstar’s Approach to Environmental, Social and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings”. DBRS Morningstar assumed reduced loss severity for loans backed by NHG guarantee as outlined in its “European RMBS Insight: Dutch Addendum” methodology. This is credit positive and affects the rating. Please also refer to https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/366268/nhg-a-dutch-loan-guarantee-program-that-is-both-socially-supportive-and-credit-positive for more details.

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 rating is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (8 February 2021).

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.

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

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 this rating include investor reports provided by Intertrust Administrative Services B.V., and loan-level data provided by the European DataWarehouse GmbH.

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

At the time of the initial rating, 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 purpose of providing this rating 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 January 2021, when DBRS Morningstar finalised its provisional rating of AAA (sf) on the Class A notes.

The lead analyst responsibilities for this transaction have been transferred to Daniele Canestrari.

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 rating, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios as compared with the parameters used to determine the rating (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 1.4% and 5.3%, 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 AAA (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating of the Class A notes would be expected to remain at AAA (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 remain at AAA (sf).

Class A Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of AAA (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: Daniele Canestrari, Assistant Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 8 January 2021

DBRS Ratings GmbH
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60311 Frankfurt am Main Deutschland
Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500

Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

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 (29 July 2021)
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/382171/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
-- 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
-- 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
-- European RMBS Insight Methodology (3 June 2021) and European Asset RMBS Insight Model version 5.4.1.0
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/379557/european-rmbs-insight-methodology
-- European RMBS Insight: Dutch Addendum (4 May 2021)
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/377934/european-rmbs-insight-dutch-addendum
-- 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

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].