TEXT-Fitch publishes August SME CLO Compare
Aug 01 – Fitch Ratings has published an updated version of its
SME CLO Compare. The report is updated on a monthly basis.
Counterparty exposures following the downgrade of Spanish banks continue to
dominate rating actions in the SME sector over the past month. The Spanish bank
downgrades followed the Spanish sovereign downgrades in early June (see ‘Fitch
Downgrades Spain’s ICO to ‘BBB’; Outlook Negative’ dated 08 June 2012; ‘Fitch
Downgrades Santander BBVA to ‘BBB+’/Negative Outlook on Sovereign Action’
dated 11 June 2012; and ‘Fitch Takes Rating Actions on Spanish Banks Following
Sovereign Downgrade’ dated 12 June 2012 at www.fitchratings.com).
As a result of the bank downgrades, many Spanish SME transactions were left
exposed to direct support counterparties that were ineligible to support ratings
up to ‘AA-sf’, the highest rating achievable for Spanish structured finance (SF)
transactions.
The 30 calendar period to implement remedial action to cure these ineligible
counterparty exposures expired during July, resulting in 212 Spanish SF
transactions being placed on Rating Watch Negative (RWN; see ‘Fitch Places 212
Spanish SF Tranches on RWN’ dated 16 July 2012 at www.fitchratings.com).
Given the large number of SF transactions that have been affected by the recent
bank downgrades,
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