DBRS Morningstar Takes Credit Rating Actions on Cars Alliance Auto Leases France Master

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) assigned a AAA (sf) credit rating to the EUR 60.0 million Class A 2023-40 Notes and EUR 80.0 million Class A 2023-41 Notes issued by Cars Alliance Auto Leases France Master (the Issuer). Additionally, DBRS Morningstar discontinued its AAA (sf) credit rating on the EUR 152.2 million Class A 2023-34 Notes, the EUR 297.6 million Class A 2023-36 Notes, and the EUR 381.0 million Class A 2023-38 Notes because of their full repayment and confirmed its AAA (sf) ratings on the following remaining outstanding notes (collectively with the Class A 2023-40 and 2023-41 Notes, the Class A Notes):

-- EUR 203.8 million Class A 2023-35 Notes, and
-- EUR 340.9 million Class A 2023-37 Notes.

DBRS Morningstar does not rate the Class B Notes issued in this transaction.

The credit ratings on the Class A Notes address the timely payment of scheduled interest and the ultimate repayment of principal by the legal maturity date in October 2038.

The credit rating actions reflect the issuance of the Class A 2023-40 and 2023-41 Notes on the 23 October 2023 payment date; the repayment of the Class A 2023-34, 2023-36, and 2023-38 Notes; and the annual review of the transaction and are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and losses, as of the October 2023 payment date;
-- Probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD), and expected loss assumptions on the remaining receivables;
-- Current available credit enhancement to the notes to cover the expected losses at the AAA (sf) credit rating level; and
-- No purchase termination events.

The Class A Notes are collateralised by lease receivable instalments and specifically exclude, among others, the residual value component. The receivables relate to auto lease agreements granted by Diffusion Industrielle et Automobile par le Crédit SA (DIAC; the seller or the servicer) to private lessees residing in France.

DIAC is a wholly owned subsidiary of RCI Banque SA, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault S.A.S. The security granted to the Issuer includes a first-ranking pledge without dispossession over the leased vehicles, which is subject to an intercreditor agreement that references specific allocations to more than one securitisation creditor. EuroTitrisation manages the transaction and DIAC services the receivables. The transaction closed in October 2020 and includes a four-year revolving period where additional receivables may be added to the pool until October 2024, subject to the occurrence of a revolving termination event. Additional receivables must meet the eligibility and portfolio limits outlined in the transaction documents. The Issuer can issue further series of notes to fund the purchase of additional receivables up to an aggregate amount of EUR 5 billion. The revolving period can be extended once for a maximum period of four years, subject to conditions.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the October 2023 payment date, loans that were 30 to 60 days and 60 to 90 days delinquent represented 0.49% and 0.10% of the portfolio discounted balance, respectively. The cumulative gross default ratio was 0.80% of the aggregate original balance, with cumulative principal recoveries of 29.09% to date.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY CREDIT RATING DRIVERS
DBRS Morningstar maintained stress scenarios for two pool compositions: one pool composed of 100% new vehicles and another composed of 100% used vehicles:

Pool with 100% new vehicles:
-- Expected default: 3.3%
-- Expected recovery rate: 53.6%
-- LGD: 65.2% for the AAA (sf) scenario

Pool with 100% used vehicles:
-- Expected default: 5.0%
-- Expected recovery rate: 49.6%
-- LGD: 67.8% for the AAA (sf) scenario

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
The subordination of the Class B Notes provides credit enhancement to the Class A Notes. As of the October 2023 payment date, credit enhancement to the Class A Notes remained at 11.15% because the transaction is still in the revolving period.

The structure includes an amortising cash reserve account, which is available to cover senior expenses and missed interest payments on the Class A Notes. This account is currently funded with EUR 7.7 million, with a target balance equal to 1.0% of the aggregate notes’ balance. Upon a downgrade of the credit rating on the seller or servicer below investment grade, a performance and commingling reserve will also be funded.

BNP Paribas SA acts as the account bank for the transaction. Based on DBRS Morningstar’s reference rating of AA on BNP Paribas SA, which is one notch below its DBRS Morningstar Long Term Critical Obligations Rating of AA (high), 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 senior notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit ratings on the Class A Notes address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. The associated financial obligations for the Class A Notes are the related Interest Amounts and the related Principal Payments on the related Class Balances.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit rating does not address nonpayment risk associated with contractual payment obligations contemplated in the applicable transaction documents 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-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

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 the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (6 October 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421598/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.

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 continues to consider potential portfolio migration based on replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

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

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance credit 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 a monthly investor report provided by EuroTitrisation 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 credit ratings, 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.

The credit ratings on the Class A 2023-40 and 2023-41 Notes concern newly issued financial instruments. These are the first DBRS Morningstar credit ratings on these financial instruments.

The last credit rating action on this transaction took place on 21 September 2023, when DBRS Morningstar assigned a AAA (sf) credit rating to the Class A 2023-38 Notes and discontinued its credit rating on the Class A 2023-33 Notes.

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 rating (the base case):
-- DBRS Morningstar expected a base case PD and LGD for the portfolio based on a review of the assets. Adverse changes to asset performance may cause stresses to base case assumptions and, therefore, have a negative effect on credit ratings.

To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the credit rating, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios for two pool compositions, one pool composed of 100% new vehicles and one pool composed of 100% used vehicles as compared with the parameters used to determine the credit ratings:

Pool with 100% new vehicles:
-- Expected default: 3.3%
-- Expected recovery rate: 53.6%
-- LGD: 65.2% for the AAA (sf) scenario

Pool with 100% used vehicles:
-- Expected default: 5.0%
-- Expected recovery rate: 49.6%
-- LGD: 67.8% for the AAA (sf) scenario

Scenario 1: A 25% increase in the expected default rate
Scenario 2: A 50% increase in the expected default rate
Scenario 3: A 25% increase in the LGD
Scenario 4: A 25% increase in the expected default rate and a 25% increase in the LGD
Scenario 5: A 50% increase in the expected default rate and a 25% increase in the LGD
Scenario 6: A 50% increase in the LGD
Scenario 7: A 25% increase in the expected default rate and a 50% increase in the LGD
Scenario 8: A 50% increase in the expected default rate and a 50% increase in the LGD

DBRS Morningstar concludes that the expected credit ratings under the eight stress scenarios will be:

Pool with 100% new vehicles:
-- Class A Notes: AA (sf), AA (sf), AA (high) (sf), AA (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), AA (sf), A (high) (sf), A (sf)

Pool with 100% used vehicles:
-- Class A Notes: AA (sf), AA (sf), AA (sf), AA (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), AA (sf), A (high) (sf), A (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 published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a central repository, see https://data.fca.org.uk/#/ceres/craStats.

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

Lead Analyst: Preben Cornelius Overas, Assistant Vice President
Credit Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Credit Rating Date: 28 October 2020

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.

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (30 June 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/416730/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (6 October 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421598/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (15 September 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/420572/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-servicers.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators (15 September 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/420573/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-originators.
-- 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.
-- Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (6 October 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/421599/rating-european-structured-finance-transactions-methodology.
-- DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (4 July 2023), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/416784/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].