DBRS Morningstar Takes Rating Actions on Caixabank RMBS 3, FT

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) took the following rating actions on the notes issued by Caixabank RMBS 3, FT (the Issuer):

-- Series A Notes upgraded to A (sf) from A (low) (sf)
-- Series B Notes confirmed at CC (sf)

The rating of the Series A Notes addresses the timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date in September 2062. The rating of the Series B Notes addresses the ultimate payment of interest and principal on or before the legal final maturity date.

The rating actions follow an annual review of the transaction and are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults and losses.
-- Portfolio default rate (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 their respective rating levels.

Caixabank RMBS 3, FT is a securitisation of Spanish residential mortgage loans and drawdowns of mortgage lines of credit secured over residential properties located in Spain and originated and serviced by CaixaBank, S.A. (CaixaBank; rated with a Long-Term Issuer Rating of “A” with a Stable trend by DBRS Morningstar). The Issuer used the proceeds of the Series A and Series B notes to fund the purchase of the mortgage portfolio. In addition, CaixaBank provided separate additional subordinated loans to fund both the initial expenses and the reserve fund.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the September 2019 payment date, loans that were one- to two-months and two- to three-months delinquent represented 0.3% and 0.01% of the portfolio balance, respectively, while loans more than three-months delinquent represented 1.9%. Gross cumulative defaults amounted to 0.2% of the original collateral balance, of which 8.4% has been recovered so far.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS
DBRS Morningstar conducted a loan-by-loan analysis on the remaining pool and updated its base case PD and LGD assumptions on the remaining portfolio collateral pool to 6.7% and 36.7% from 8.6% and 43.2%, respectively.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
Credit enhancement for the Series A Notes is provided by the subordination of the Series B Notes, as well as amounts standing on the cash reserve. As of the September 2019 payment date, credit enhancement to the Series A Notes was 16.9%, up from 15.5% 12 months ago.

The transaction benefits from a EUR 114.8 million reserve fund, which provides liquidity support and credit support to the Series A Notes. The reserve fund will not amortise during the first two years of the transaction. However, starting in December 2019, the reserve fund will amortise subject to certain trigger events. The reserve fund is currently at its target level of EUR 114.8 million. Following the payment in full of the Series A Notes, the transaction reserve fund will also provide liquidity and credit support to the Series B Notes.

CaixaBank, S.A. acts as the account bank for the transaction. Based on the account bank reference rating of CaixaBank, S.A. at A (high), which is one notch below the DBRS Morningstar Long-Term Critical Obligations Rating of AA (low), 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 rating assigned to the Series A Notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

The transaction structure was analysed in Intex DealMaker.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the ratings is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology”.

DBRS Morningstar has applied the principal methodology consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the principal methodology.

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

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release. These may be found on www.dbrs.com at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies.

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 Credit Ratings” of the “Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments” at: https://www.dbrs.com/research/350410/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include investor reports provided by CaixaBank Titulización, S.G.F.T., S.A., 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 rating, DBRS Morningstar was supplied with third-party assessments. However, this did not impact the rating analysis.

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

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

The last rating action on this transaction took place on 23 November 2018, when DBRS Morningstar confirmed the ratings of the Series A Notes and Series B Notes at A (low) (sf) and CC (sf), respectively.

The lead analyst responsibilities for this transaction have been transferred to Petter Wettestad.

Information regarding DBRS Morningstar ratings, including definitions, policies and methodologies is available at www.dbrs.com.

To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the rating, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios as compared with the parameters used to determine the rating (the Base Case):

-- DBRS Morningstar expected a lifetime base case PD and LGD for the pool based on a review of the current assets. Adverse changes to asset performance may cause stresses to base case assumptions and therefore have a negative effect on credit ratings.
-- The base case PD and LGD of the current pool of loans for the Issuer are 6.7% and 36.7%, respectively.
-- The risk sensitivity overview below illustrates the ratings expected if the PD and LGD increase by a certain percentage over the base case assumption. For example, if the LGD increases by 50%, the rating of the Series A Notes would be expected to remain at A (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating of the Series A Notes would be expected to fall to A (low) (sf), assuming no change in the LGD. Furthermore, if both the PD and LGD increase by 50%, the rating of the Series A Notes would be expected to fall to BBB (high) (sf).

Series A Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of A (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating of A (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (high) (sf)

Series B Notes Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of AA (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected rating of AA (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected rating of A (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected rating of BBB (high) (sf)

For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml.

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings GmbH are subject to EU and US regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Petter Wettestad, Financial Analyst
Rating Committee Chair: David Lautier, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 12 December 2017

DBRS Ratings GmbH
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60311 Frankfurt am Main Deutschland
Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

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

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers
-- European RMBS Insight Methodology
-- European RMBS Insight: Spanish Addendum
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions

A description of how DBRS Morningstar analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/research/278375.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrs.com or contact us at info@dbrs.com.