Press Release

DBRS Morningstar Upgrades and Withdraws Bankia’s Ratings Following Merger with CaixaBank

Banking Organizations
March 29, 2021

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) has taken several rating actions following the completion of CaixaBank, S.A.’s (CaixaBank) acquisition of Bankia SA (Bankia). Following the merger, Bankia has ceased to exist as a legal entity, and CaixaBank has legally assumed all of the assets and liabilities of Bankia. As a result DBRS Morningstar upgraded the Long-Term ratings of Bankia, including the Long-Term Issuer Rating at “A”, and confirmed the Short-Term ratings, including the Short-Term Issuer Rating at R-1 (low), thus equalizing the ratings of Bankia with those of CaixaBank. DBRS Morningstar subsequently Discontinued-Withdrew these ratings. See the full list of ratings at the end of this press release.

The outstanding ratings on Bankia’s Long-Term Senior Debt (ES0213307053 and ES0313307201), Senior Non-Preferred Debt (ES0213307061 and ES0313307219), and Subordinated Debt (ES0213056007, ES0213307046 and XS1951220596) instruments, which have been assumed by CaixaBank, can now be found under CaixaBank on DBRSMorningstar.com. The ratings on Bankia’s Additional Tier 1 Instruments have been Discontinued-Withdrawn for business reasons.

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 (June 8, 2020). https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/362170/global-methodology-for-rating-banks-and-banking-organisations
Other applicable methodologies include the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (February 3, 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 Company Documents, Bankia 2020 Presentation, Bankia 2020 Financial Data, Bankia 2020 Report, Caixabank/Bankia Merger Presentation (18 September 2020), Bankia Merger “Hecho Relevante” (26 March 2021) 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.

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/376014

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

Lead Analyst: Arnaud Journois, Vice President - European Financial Institutions
Rating Committee Chair: Ross Abercromby - Managing Director - Global FIG
Initial Rating Date: July 8, 2016
Last Rating Date: September 24, 2020

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