OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed 42, upgraded three, downgraded two, and revised Rating Outlooks on six tranches from 12 collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed primarily by Trust Preferred (TruPS) securities issued by banks.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Credit Quality of Collateral: In nine transactions, the credit quality of the collateral portfolios, as measured by a combination of Fitch's bank scores and ratings, remained stable or improved. As reported in the rating action report, the remaining three transactions experienced deterioration in credit quality. Two transactions reported new deferrals or defaults since last review.

Collateral Redemptions: Seven CDOs received various levels of redemptions that paid down the senior-most notes and increased credit enhancement (CE) levels for rated liabilities. The magnitude of redemptions for each CDO is reported in the accompanying rating action report. Potential upgrades were weighed against the risk of adverse selection in the remaining portfolios, especially those concentrated in fewer performing issuers, and considered in the context of the likely time horizon for the notes' paydown.

Resolution and Recovery of Defaults and Deferrals: The number of cures continued to outpace deferrals and defaults, as Fitch reports in its monthly Fitch Bank TruPS CDO Default and Deferral Index report. Fitch assesses the likelihood of a cure for a current deferral based on the score history of a deferring issuer since deferral.

Fitch assumes that 15% of recent cures, defined as curing within the last year, re-defer and are considered weak deferrals to account for observed re-deferrals by some issuers. The percentage of cures since last review for each CDO is reported in the accompanying rating action report.

CDO Structure: Excess spread continued to contribute to deleveraging of seven CDOs from either Optimal Principal Distribution Amount (OPDA) or failing coverage tests. The uplift from the excess spread ranged from none to four notches. For non-deferrable notes, Fitch performs analysis of the notes' interest sensitivity to additional defaults and deferrals. Ratings for non-deferrable notes are capped at the rating stress level corresponding to the magnitude of additional defaults and deferrals that could trigger a missed interest payment.

Performing CE Cap: The ratings on 12 classes of notes in seven transactions have been capped at their current rating level due to the application of performing CE cap as described in 'Surveillance Criteria for TruPS CDOs,' dated April 5, 2016.

The rating on the class A-2 note in Regional Diversified Funding 2005-1 Ltd./Corp. has been downgraded to 'Bsf' from 'BBsf' as its performing CE is below a minimum threshold defined by the criteria for 'BBsf' rating category.

The current hedge counterparty in TPref Funding III, Ltd./Corp., AIG Financial Products does not meet Fitch's 'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds' (May 14, 2014), because the parent company, American International Group does not have a current short-term Issuer Default Rating. Fitch performed scenario analysis in which the counterparty defaults and based on the analysis concluded that the current ratings will not be impacted.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Changes in the rating drivers could lead to rating changes in the TruPS CDO notes. To address potential risks of adverse selection and increased portfolio concentration Fitch applied a sensitivity scenario, as described in the criteria.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE
No third party due diligence was reviewed in relation to this rating action.