MOODY'S PLACES NOVO BANCO'S MORTGAGE COVERED BONDS ON REVIEW FOR DOWNGRADE S2953.MC
MDY
23-Nov-2015 20:31
Madrid, November 23, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service has taken the following rating actions on both mortgage covered bonds issued by Novo Banco S.A. (the issuer, B2 senior unsecured on review for downgrade, caa2 baseline credit assessment on review for downgrade, B1(cr) Counterparty Risk Assessment on review for downgrade), governed by the Portuguese covered bond legislation.
Novo Banco S.A. - Covered Bonds: Baa2 rating placed on review for downgrade
Novo Banco, S.A. Conditional Pass-Through Covered Bond Programme: A3 rating placed on review for downgrade
RATINGS RATIONALE
The review for downgrade of the covered bond ratings referenced above follows the rating action on Novo Banco S.A.'s Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment). The CB anchor for these programmes is the CR Assessment plus one notch.
For further information on the rating actions taken by Moody's Financial Institutions Group, please refer to ' Moody's places Novo Banco's B2 senior and deposit ratings on review for downgrade ' (
http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PR_339115) published on 18 November 2015.
In addition, Moody's is exploring whether the court challenges that theBank of Portugal is facing regarding the legality of the Resolution have any realistic prospect of success, and the potential consequences for covered bondholders.
KEY RATING ASSUMPTIONS/FACTORS
Moody's determines covered bond ratings using a two-step process: an expected loss analysis and a Timely Payment Indicator (TPI) framework analysis.
EXPECTED LOSS: Moody's uses its Covered Bond Model (COBOL) to determine a rating based on the expected loss on the bond. COBOL determines expected loss as (1) a function of the probability that the issuer will cease making payments under the covered bonds (a CB anchor event); and (2) the stressed losses on the cover pool assets following a CB anchor event.
The CB anchor for both Novo Banco's covered bond programmes is the CR Assessment plus one notch. The CR Assessment reflects an issuer's ability to avoid defaulting on certain senior bank operating obligations and contractual commitments, including covered bonds. Moody's may use a CB anchor of one notch above the CR Assessment in the European Union, or otherwise, where an operational resolution regime is particularly likely to ensure continuity of covered bond payments.
Novo Banco S.A. - Covered Bonds
The cover pool losses for this programme are 21.2% This is an estimate of the losses Moody's currently models following a CB anchor event. Moody's splits cover pool losses between market risk of 16.2% and collateral risk of 5%. Market risk measures losses stemming from refinancing risk and risks related to interest-rate and currency mismatches (these losses may also include certain legal risks). Collateral risk measures losses resulting directly from cover pool assets' credit quality. Moody's derives collateral risk from the collateral score, which for this programme is currently 7.5%.
The over-collateralisation (OC) in the cover pool is 32.5%, of which the issuer provides 5.3% on a 'committed' basis. The minimum OC level consistent with the Baa2 rating target is 3%. These numbers show that Moody's is not relying on 'uncommitted' OC in its expected loss analysis.
Novo Banco, S.A. Conditional Pass-Through Covered Bond Programme
The cover pool losses for this programme are 18.1%. This is an estimate of the losses Moody's currently models following a CB anchor event. Cover pool losses can be split between market risk of 13.1% and collateral risk of 5.0%. Market risk measures losses as a result of refinancing risk, or risks related to interest-rate and currency mismatches (these losses may also include certain legal risks). Collateral risk measures losses resulting directly from the credit quality of the assets in the cover pool. Collateral risk is derived from the collateral score, which for this programme is currently 7.5%.
The OC in the cover pool is 9.9%, of which the issuer provides 5.3% on a 'committed' basis. The minimum OC consistent with the A3 rating target is 9%. These numbers show that Moody's is relying on 'uncommitted' OC in its expected loss analysis.
All numbers in this section are based on Moody's most recent modelling, which is based on October 2015 data. For further details on cover pool losses, collateral risk, market risk, collateral score and TPI Leeway across covered bond programmes rated by Moody's, please refer to 'Moody's Global Covered Bonds Monitoring Overview', which is published quarterly.
TPI FRAMEWORK: Moody's assigns a TPI, which measures the likelihood of timely payments to covered bondholders following a CB anchor event. The TPI framework limits the covered bond rating to a certain number of notches above the CB anchor.
For Novo Banco S.A. - Covered Bonds, Moody's has assigned a TPI of 'Improbable'.
For Novo Banco, S.A. Conditional Pass-Through Covered Bond Programme, Moody's has assigned a TPI of 'Probable-High'.
Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the rating:
The CB anchor is the main determinant of a covered bond programme's rating robustness. A change in the level of the CB anchor could lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the covered bonds. The TPI Leeway measures the number of notches by which Moody's might lower the CB anchor before it downgrades the covered bonds because of TPI framework constraints.
Based on the current TPI of 'Improbable', the TPI Leeway for Novo Banco
S.A. - Covered Bonds is zero notches. This implies that Moody's might
downgrade the covered bonds because of a TPI cap if it lowers the CB anchor by
one notch, all other variables being equal.
Based on the current TPI of 'Probable-High', the TPI Leeway for Novo Banco, S.A. Conditional Pass-Through Covered Bond Programme is zero notches. This implies that Moody's might downgrade the covered bonds because of a TPI cap if it lowers the CB anchor by one notch, all other variables being equal.
A multiple-notch downgrade of the covered bonds might occur in certain circumstances, such as (1) a country ceiling or sovereign downgrade capping a covered bond rating or negatively affecting the CB anchor and the TPI; (2) a multiple-notch downgrade of the CB anchor; or (3) a material reduction of the value of the cover pool.
RATING METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings was 'Moody's Approach to Rating Covered Bonds', published in August 2015. Please see the Credit Policy page on
http://www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.