DBRS Morningstar Assigns Provisional Ratings to AMCR ABS Trust 2023-1

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS Morningstar) assigned provisional credit ratings to the following classes of notes to be issued by AMCR ABS Trust 2023-1 (AMCR 2023-1 or the Issuer):

-- $81,138,000 Class A Notes at A (sf)
-- $28,978,000 Class B Notes at BBB (low) (sf)
-- $17,387,000 Class C Notes at BB (low) (sf)

The provisional credit ratings are based on DBRS Morningstar’s review of the following analytical considerations:

(1) The transaction assumptions consider DBRS Morningstar’s baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereign economies, available in its commentary Baseline Macroeconomic Scenarios for Rated Sovereigns: September 2023 Update, published on September 28, 2023. These baseline macroeconomic scenarios replace DBRS Morningstar’s moderate and adverse Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic scenarios, which were first published in April 2020.

(2) The DBRS Morningstar CNL assumption is 15.85% based on the Cutoff Date pool composition.

(3) The transaction’s form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement.
-- Subordination, overcollateralization, amounts held in the Reserve Fund, and excess spread create credit enhancement levels that are commensurate with the proposed credit ratings.
-- Transaction cash flows are sufficient to repay investors under all A (sf), BBB (low) (sf) and BB (low) (sf) stress scenarios in accordance with the terms of the AMCR ABS TRUST 2023-1 transaction documents.

(4) The experience, sourcing, and servicing capabilities of Credit9, LLC. DBRS Morningstar has performed an operational risk assessment of Credit9 and believes the Company is an acceptable consumer loan servicer with an acceptable Backup Servicer and Backup Servicer Subcontractor.

(5) The experience, underwriting, and origination capabilities of Cross River Bank (CRB).

(6) The ability of Wilmington Trust National Association to perform duties as a Backup Servicer and the ability of Nelnet Servicing, LLC dba Firstmark to perform duties as a Backup Servicer Subcontractor.

(7) The annual percentage rate (APR) charged on the loans and the status of CRB as the true lender.
-- Approximately 68% of loans included in AMCR 2023-1 are originated by CRB, a New Jersey state-chartered FDIC-insured bank.
-- Loans originated by CRB are all within the New Jersey state usury limit of 30.00%.
-- The weighted-average APR of the loans in the pool is 25.39%.
-- Loans may be in excess of individual state usury laws; however, CRB as the true lender is able to export rates that pre-empt state usury rate caps.
-- Loans originated to borrowers in Vermont, Colorado, West Virginia and Maine are excluded from the pool.
-- Under the Loan Sale Agreement, CRB is obligated to repurchase any loan if there is a breach of representation and warranty that materially and adversely affects the interests of the purchaser.

(8) The legal structure and expected legal opinions that will address the true sale of the consolidation loans, the nonconsolidation of the trust, and that the trust has a valid perfected security interest in the assets and consistency with the DBRS Morningstar “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance.”

DBRS Morningstar’s credit rating on the securities referenced herein addresses 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 Distributable Amount, and the related Note Balance.

DBRS Morningstar’s credit rating does not address non-payment risk associated with contractual payment obligations contemplated in the applicable transaction document(s) that are not financial obligations. The associated contractual payment obligations that are not financial obligations are the related interest on unpaid Interest Distributable Amount for each of the rated notes.

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. The DBRS Morningstar short-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk that an issuer will not meet its short-term financial obligations in a timely manner.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factor(s) 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 (July 4, 2023; https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/416784/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings).

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the credit rating is Rating U.S. Structured Finance Transactions (October 30, 2023; https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/422592/rating-us-structured-finance-transactions).

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

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.

The credit rating was initiated at the request of the rated entity.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the credit rating process for this credit rating action.

DBRS Morningstar had access to the accounts, management and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this credit rating action.

This is a solicited credit rating.

Please see the related appendix for additional information regarding the sensitivity of assumptions used in the credit rating process.

DBRS, Inc.
140 Broadway, 43rd Floor
New York, NY 10005 USA
Tel. +1 212 806-3277

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

Operational Risk Assessment for U.S. ABS Servicers (July 20, 2023) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/417415/operational-risk-assessment-for-us-abs-servicers

Operational Risk Assessment for U.S. ABS Originators (July 20, 2023) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/417416/operational-risk-assessment-for-us-abs-originators

Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance (December 7, 2022) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/407008/legal-criteria-for-us-structured-finance

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