MPS Settles Structured Transaction with Nomura, Improving Capital, Profitability
and Funding
Last Thursday, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (MPS, B3/B3 negative, caa22
) and Nomura Holdings
Inc.’s (Baa1 stable) Nomura International plc announced that they had reached an agreement for the early
termination of a structured transaction initiated in 2009 that they refer to as “Alexandria.” The settlement
is credit positive for MPS because it improves the bank’s regulatory capital and will positively affect MPS’
liquidity and profitability. Additionally, terminating the deal significantly reduces MPS’ single-name
exposure to Nomura, which has been a regulatory issue for the bank, and reduces litigation risk.
The Alexandria transaction’s aim was to address loss-making collateralised debt obligations acquired in
2006. Alexandria involved the purchase of a €3 billion portfolio of long-dated Italian government bonds due
in 2034 and entering into derivatives contracts with Nomura. The Bank of Italy required that MPS fully
deduct the negative valuation reserve of the portfolio from its regulatory capital, which has reduced MPS’
capital ratio.
As part of the settlement with Nomura, MPS acquired another long-dated Italian government bond
portfolio that is not linked with a structured transaction. As a result, any negative valuation reserve
associated with the portfolio, as with all European government bonds, would be neutral for MPS’ capital.
MPS estimates that this new Italian government bond portfolio will generate around €40 million more in
net interest income per year than the previous one. This increase will help offset a one-off charge of €88
million that MPS will record in its third-quarter results, net of taxes. According to MPS, the agreement with
Nomura improved the bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio by 60-70 basis points.
Closing Alexandria also reduces capital requirements and eliminates litigation risks for MPS. As of March
2015, the bank reported that its exposure to Nomura exceeded its limit on single counterparty exposure,
while its exposure was just below the threshold as of June 2015. We understand that MPS’ supervisor, the
European Central Bank, requested that the bank address this issue. Additionally, we note that MPS and
Nomura have been involved in a series of court litigations linked to Alexandria, which will end following the
agreement between the two banks. This will help MPS clean up its balance sheet.