Press Release

DBRS Morningstar Assigns “R-1 (low)” rating, with a Negative Trend, to ISP’s Commercial Paper (Cambiali Finanziarie) Programme

Banking Organizations
March 15, 2021

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) has assigned a rating of “R-1 (low)”, with a Negative trend, to Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP or the Bank)’s Commercial Paper (Cambiali Finanziarie), issued under the Bank’s EUR 30 billion Guaranteed Euro-Commercial Paper and Certificate of Deposit and Commercial Paper (Cambiali Finanziarie) Programme.

The tenor of the Cambiali Finanziarie shall be neither less than one month nor more than 364 days from and including the date of issue subject to compliance with any applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The Cambiali Finanziarie are not subordinated obligations and rank pari passu with other current and future senior obligations of the Bank.

RATING DRIVERS

Any positive change in the Bank’s Long-Term Senior Debt rating would have positive implications for the Commercial Paper (Cambiali Finanziarie) Programme rating. Given the Negative trend, an upgrade of Intesa’s Long-Term Senior Debt is unlikely at this time. However, the trend on the Long-Term Senior Debt would change to Stable if the Trend on the Italian Sovereign were to return to Stable, and the impact of the current economic environment on the Bank’s earnings and asset quality were to be manageable.

Similarly, any negative change in the Bank’s Long-Term Senior Debt rating would have negative implications for the rating. A downgrade of Intesa’s Long-Term Senior Debt could result from a downgrade of Italy’s Sovereign rating or a material deterioration in the Bank’s risk profile and capital position due to COVID-19.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

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/373262.

Notes:
All figures are in EUR unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology is the Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations (8 June 2020) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/362170/global-methodology-for-rating-banks-and-banking-organisations.
Other applicable methodologies include DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (3 February 2021) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

The sources of information used for this rating include ISP’s EUR 30 billion Guaranteed Euro-Commercial Paper and Certificate of Deposit and Commercial Paper (Cambiali Finanziarie) Programme dated March 2021, Intesa Sanpaolo FY 2020 Results Press Release, Intesa Sanpaolo FY 2020 Results Presentation, and S&P Global Market Intelligence. DBRS Morningstar considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating to be of satisfactory quality.

This rating concerns a newly issued financial instrument. This is the first DBRS Morningstar rating on this financial instrument.

DBRS Morningstar does not audit the information it receives in connection with the rating process, and it does not and cannot independently verify that information in every instance.

Generally, the conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive trend are resolved within a 12-month period. DBRS Morningstar's outlooks and ratings are under regular surveillance.

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. DBRS Morningstar understands further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates may be published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its webpage: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/credit-rating-agencies.

The sensitivity analysis of the relevant key rating assumptions can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/375209.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Nicola De Caro, Senior Vice President – Global FIG
Rating Committee Chair: Elisabeth Rudman - Managing Director, Head of European FIG - Global FIG
Initial Rating Date: September 13, 2013
Last Rating Date: August 7, 2020

DBRS Ratings GmbH
Neue Mainzer Straße 75
Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500
60311 Frankfurt am Main Deutschland
Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com.

ALL MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLAIMERS AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. PLEASE READ THESE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING MORNINGSTAR DBRS RATINGS, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS, POLICIES, RATING SCALES AND METHODOLOGIES.