Fitch Withdraws Fintech Receivables 2 CP Rating
Fitch Ratings-London-05 March 2010: Fitch Ratings has today downgraded to F1(zaf) from F1+(zaf) and simultaneously withdrawn the rating on the commercial paper (CP) issued by Fintech Receivables 2 (Proprietary) Limited ('Fintech 2').
Fitch has taken no rating action on the outstanding term notes issued by Fintech 2 which are unaffected by today's action on Fintech 2's CP tranche.
Since closing in August 2009, Fintech 2 has issued no CP and all funding was via the long-term asset-backed securities issued by the programme. The transaction manager, Investec Capital Markets, has therefore decided to terminate the CP issuance capability of the programme.
Under the programme documents there are various conditions that must be met before CP can be issued, the most important of which is the availability of a liquidity facility which is currently provided by Investec Bank Limited ('A+(zaf)'/'F1(zaf)'/Stable Outlook). Investec Bank Limited has informed Fitch of its intention to cancel in full the undrawn liquidity facility on 11 March 2010. After this date it will not be possible for the programme to issue CP which is why Fitch has withdrawn its rating Fintech 2's CP tranche.
The rating of the CP is directly linked to the rating of the liquidity provider, Investec Bank Limited. Following the recent downgrade of Investec Bank Limited from F1+(zaf) to F1(zaf) Fitch will also downgrade the CP rating to F1(zaf) from F1+(zaf) and then simultaneously withdraw the rating. It should be noted that the downgrade of the CP is purely linked to the downgrade of the liquidity provider and has no bearing on the performance of the underlying lease receivables.
Fintech 2 is a securitisation of equipment lease receivables originated in South Africa by Fintech Underwriting (Proprietary) Limited. For more information, please refer to the rating report available on www.fitchratings.com.
Contacts: Peter Winning, London, +44 20 7682 7492; Jaime Sanz, +44 20 7682 7279; Guili Yu, +44 7682 7272.
Media Relations: Julian Dennison, London, Tel: +44 020 7682 7480, Email: julian.dennison@fitchratings.com.
Note to Editors: Fitch's National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as 'AAA(zaf)' for National ratings in South Africa. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.
Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com
EMEA Structured Finance Snapshot:
Further information on Fitch's EMEA structured finance offering can be found in "EMEA Structured Finance Snapshot", which is available at www.fitchratings.com. The Snapshot consolidates and highlights the key research and commentary produced by the agency's EMEA structured finance group and includes previously unpublished Fitch data and multimedia content that will be updated each quarter.
ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.
101 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC2A 1RS