DBRS Morningstar Upgrades Ratings on Golden Bar (Securitisation) S.r.l. - Series 2020-2

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) upgraded its ratings on the Class A and Class B Notes (together, the Rated Notes) issued by Golden Bar (Securitisation) S.r.l. - Series 2020-2 (the Issuer) to AA (low) (sf) and BBB (high) (sf) from A (high) (sf) and BBB (sf), respectively.

The ratings on the Rated Notes address the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date in July 2042.

The upgrades follow an annual review of the transaction and are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and losses, as of the April 2022 payment date;
-- Probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD), and expected loss assumptions on the receivables;
-- Current available credit enhancement to the Rated Notes to cover the expected losses at their respective rating levels; and
-- No purchase termination events.

The transaction is a securitisation backed by a portfolio of approximately EUR 545 million of fixed-rate receivables related to amortising automobile loans granted by Santander Consumer Bank S.p.A. to private individuals, corporations, and self-employed individuals residing in the Republic of Italy. The originator is also the servicer of the portfolio.

The transaction includes a 38-month ramp-up and revolving period, which is scheduled to end on the July 2023 payment date. During this time, the originator may offer additional receivables that the Issuer will purchase provided that certain conditions are met, including that eligibility criteria and concentration limits set out in the transaction documents are satisfied and that the Issuer has sufficient funds to pay the purchase price. The revolving period may end earlier than scheduled if certain events occur, including the breach of performance ratios or concentration limits. The programme limit of the variable-funding notes is EUR 750 million on an aggregated basis.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the April 2022 payment date, loans that were 30 to 60 days and 60 to 90 days delinquent represented 0.08% and 0.04% of the outstanding portfolio balance, respectively, while loans more than 90 days delinquent represented 0.004%. Gross cumulative defaults stood at 0.6% of the aggregate original portfolio balance with cumulative recoveries of 13.7%.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS
DBRS Morningstar maintained its base case PD and LGD assumptions at 4.8% and 71.2%, respectively. Given the revolving period, the assumptions are based on the potential portfolio migration and the replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

The good transaction performance observed so far combined with the removal of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)-related adjustments prompted the ratings upgrade on the Rated Notes.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
The subordination of the junior notes and the cash reserve provide credit enhancement to the Rated Notes. As of the April 2022 payment date, credit enhancement to the Class A and Class B Notes was 13.5% and 6.7%, respectively, which is stable since closing because of the revolving period.

The transaction benefits from a cash reserve that covers senior costs and interest on the Rated Notes, thus providing liquidity support during the life of the transaction. The reserve amortises in line with the Rated Notes and has to be maintained at 1.0% of their aggregated principal amount outstanding, with a floor of 0.15% of the Rated Notes’ initial principal balance. The cash reserve is currently at its target amount of EUR 5.2 million.

The originator expects to fund a set-off reserve if the rating on the servicer’s owner, Santander Consumer Finance S.A., falls below BBB or it ceases to own 100% of the originator’s share capital. The target set-off reserve amount is the excess of the aggregate net exposure over 1% of the portfolio outstanding principal amount. As of the April 2022 payment date, this reserve remained unfunded.

Banco Santander SA (Santander) acts as the Spanish Account Bank for the transaction while Deutsche Bank S.p.A (Deutsche Bank) acts as the Italian Account Bank. Based on the account bank reference rating of A (high) on Santander (one notch below the DBRS Morningstar Long Term Critical Obligations Rating of AA (low)), DBRS Morningstar’s private rating on Deutsche Bank, 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 banks to be consistent with the ratings assigned to the Rated Notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

DBRS Morningstar analysed the transaction structure in Intex DealMaker.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

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/396929.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the ratings is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (19 May 2022).

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

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

Due to the inclusion of a revolving period in the transaction, the analysis continues to consider potential portfolio migration based on replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

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

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 Morningstar Credit Ratings” of the “Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments” at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/381451/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group releases baseline macroeconomic scenarios for rated sovereigns. DBRS Morningstar analysis considered impacts consistent with the baseline scenarios as set forth in the following report: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384482/baseline-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings.

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include investor reports provided by Deutsche Bank S.p.A, servicer reports provided by Santander Consumer Bank SpA (Italy), 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 ratings, 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 12 July 2021, when DBRS Morningstar confirmed its ratings on the Class A and Class B Notes at A (high) (sf) and BBB (sf), respectively.

The lead analyst responsibilities for this transaction have been transferred to Preben Cornelius Overas.

Information regarding DBRS Morningstar ratings, including definitions, policies, and methodologies, is available at www.dbrsmorningstar.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 4.8% and 71.2%, 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 on the Class A Notes would be expected to drop to A (high) (sf), assuming no change in the PD. If the PD increases by 50%, the rating on the Class A Notes would be expected to fall to A (sf), assuming no change in the LGD. Furthermore, if both the PD and LGD increase by 50%, the rating on the Class A Notes would be expected to fall to BBB (high) (sf).

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

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

For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: https://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.

These ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Preben Cornelius Overas, Senior Analyst
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 30 July 2020

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

-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (19 May 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/397033/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.
-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (29 July 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/382171/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (16 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384513/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-servicers.
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Originators (16 September 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/384512/operational-risk-assessment-for-european-structured-finance-originators.
-- Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations (29 October 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/387042/rating-european-consumer-and-commercial-asset-backed-securitisations.
-- Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (19 May 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/397034/rating-european-structured-finance-transactions-methodology.
-- DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (17 May 2022), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/396929/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

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

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