Press Release

DBRS Morningstar Assigns Credit Ratings to ARTS Consumer 2023 S.r.l.

Consumer Loans & Credit Cards

October 11, 2023

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) assigned credit ratings to the following classes of notes (collectively, the Rated Notes) issued by ARTS Consumer 2023 S.r.l.:

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

DBRS Morningstar did not rate the Class E and Class F Notes (together with the Rated Notes, the Notes) also issued in this transaction.

The credit ratings of the Class A, Class B and Class C Notes address the timely payment of scheduled interest and the ultimate repayment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date. The credit rating of the Class D Notes addresses the ultimate payment of interest but the timely payment of scheduled interest when they become the senior-most tranche, and the ultimate repayment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date.

The transaction is a securitisation of fixed-rate general purpose and consolidation loans granted by UniCredit S.p.A. (UniCredit or the originator) to private individuals residing in Italy.

DBRS Morningstar based its credit ratings on the following analytical considerations:
-- The transaction’s capital structure and the sufficient credit enhancement to support DBRS Morningstar’s projected expected net losses under various stress scenarios and to repay the Rated Notes.
-- The operational risk review of the originator, which DBRS Morningstar deems to be an acceptable servicer.
-- The transaction parties’ financial strength with regard to their respective roles.
-- The consistency of the transaction’s legal structure with DBRS Morningstar’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

TRANSACTION STRUCTURE
The transaction includes a 12-month scheduled revolving period. During the revolving period, the originator may offer and transfer additional receivables, provided that the eligibility criteria and concentration limits set out in the transaction documents are satisfied. The revolving period may end earlier than scheduled if certain events occur such as the originator’s insolvency, the servicer’s replacement, or the breach of performance triggers.

The transaction allocates collections in separate interest and principal priorities of payments and benefits from an initial cash reserve of EUR 12,200,000, which was funded at closing by a subordinated loan from the originator. The cash reserve will amortise to the target amount during the redemption period, subject to a floor of EUR 500,000 and can be used to cover senior expenses, swap costs, and interest payments due on the Class A Notes, and if not deferred, on the Class B, Class C and Class D Notes when the interest and principal collections are not sufficient to cover the shortfall.

At the end of the revolving period, the Rated Notes together with the Class E Notes will be redeemed pro rata based on the tranche thickness percentages at closing until a sequential amortisation event occurs, after which the non-reversible, fully sequential redemption of the Notes will commence.

The interest rate risk for the transaction is considered limited as an interest rate swap is in place to reduce the mismatch between the fixed-rate collateral and the floating-rate Notes.

COUNTERPARTIES
BNP Paribas (Italian Branch) is the account bank for the transaction. Based on DBRS Morningstar’s Long-Term Issuer Rating of AA (low) on BNP Paribas, 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 credit ratings assigned to the Rated Notes.

UniCredit is the initial swap counterparty for the transaction, which meets the criteria to act in such capacity based on DBRS Morningstar’s private rating. The transaction documents contain downgrade provisions consistent with DBRS Morningstar’s criteria.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS
As the historical data provided is relatively long, DBRS Morningstar considers the performance data to be meaningful for detailed vintage analysis. DBRS Morningstar elected to use a lifetime expected gross default of 4.2%, reflecting the long and improving historical data, the composition of loan types, and the potential portfolio migration during the revolving period. DBRS Morningstar maintained its expected recovery assumption unchanged from ARTS Consumer S.r.l. at 15%, reflecting the less granular historical data and benchmarking of similar consumer loan portfolios in Italy.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit ratings on the Rated Notes address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. The associated financial obligations for each of the Rated Notes are the related Interest Payment Amounts and the initial Principal Amount Outstanding.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit ratings do not address non-payment risk associated with contractual payment obligations contemplated in the applicable transaction document(s) that are not financial obligations.

DBRS Morningstar’s long-term credit ratings provide opinions on risk of default. DBRS Morningstar considers risk of default to be the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy the financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which a long-term obligation has been issued.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

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/416784.

DBRS Morningstar analysed the transaction structure in Intex DealMaker.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the credit ratings is “Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations” (19 October 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/404212/rating-european-consumer-and-commercial-asset-backed-securitisations.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

DBRS Morningstar 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 considers potential portfolio migration based on the replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

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/421590/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 credit ratings include performance data relating to the receivables that the originator provided through the arranger, UniCredit Bank AG.

DBRS Morningstar received quarterly static default data from Q1 2009 to Q2 2023, annual recovery data from 2015 to 2022 and monthly dynamic arrears and prepayment data from January 2009 to June 2023. DBRS Morningstar also received a set of stratification tables for the loan pool as of 1 September 2023 and its related contractual amortisation profile.

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 credit rating analysis.

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

DBRS Morningstar does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the credit rating process.

These credit ratings concern newly issued financial instruments. These are the first DBRS Morningstar credit ratings on these financial instruments.

Information regarding DBRS Morningstar credit 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 credit ratings, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios as compared with the parameters used to determine the credit ratings:

-- Expected default of 4.2%: a 25% and 50% increase in the expected default.
-- Loss given default (LGD) of 85%: a 25% increase in the expected LGD.

Scenario 1: A 25% increase in the expected default.
Scenario 2: A 50% increase in the expected default.
Scenario 3: A 25% increase in the expected LGD.
Scenario 4: A 25% increase in the expected default and 25% increase in the expected LGD.
Scenario 5: A 50% increase in the expected default and 25% increase in the expected LGD.

DBRS Morningstar concludes that the expected credit ratings under the five stress scenarios are:
-- Class A Notes: AA (high) (sf), AA (sf), AAA (sf), AA (sf), AA (low) (sf)
-- Class B Notes: AA (sf), AA (low) (sf), AA (high) (sf), AA (sf), A (high) (sf)
-- Class C Notes: A (high) (sf), A (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), A (sf), BBB (high) (sf)
-- Class D Notes: BBB (high) (sf), BBB (sf), A (low) (sf), BBB (high) (sf), BBB (low) 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://registers.esma.europa.eu/cerep-publication. For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates may be published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a central repository: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/ceres/craStats.

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

Lead Analyst: Kevin Chiang, Senior Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: David Lautier, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 11 October 2023

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 credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

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].

ALL MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLAIMERS AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. PLEASE READ THESE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS, POLICIES, RATING SCALES AND METHODOLOGIES.

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