Spain

Fitch cut mortgage covered bonds issued by Caja Madrid from AAA to AA+ on Friday and noted that the rating of Cédulas TDA 14, which is under review, is heavily exposed to Caja Madrid’s cédulas hipotecarias.

Spain’s Bankinter will today (Monday) add Eu400m to a Eu1bn cédulas hipotecarias issue first launched in March and will price the increase at a record high spread.

Fitch yesterday (Thursday) placed Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa’s rating of A+ on Rating Watch Negative because of the announced acquisition the assets and liabilities of CajaSur, which was taken over by the Fund For Orderly Bank Restructuring at the behest of the Bank of Spain in May.

Fitch yesterday (Thursday) downgraded Caja Madrid’s rating from A+ to A, on negative outlook, because of revenue pressure and a decline in asset quality.

Moody’s put all ratings of Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa on review for downgrade today (Wednesday) because of its proposed acquisition of Cajasur, which was taken over by Spain’s Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) in May.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria yesterday (Monday) received Eu3.1bn of orders for a covered bond that was marketed at a level designed to ensure “certainty of execution”, according to bankers at the leads.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria this (Monday) morning launched the first sizeable new cédulas issue in three months on the back of improved market sentiment for Spanish debt.

Fitch yesterday (Wednesday) cut mortgage-backed covered bonds issued by Banco Popular Español from AAA to AA+ following a downgrade of the issuer.

Fitch yesterday (Tuesday) downgraded the long term rating of Banco Popular Español from AA- to A, on stable outlook, because of deterioration in the bank’s asset quality and its effect on operating profitability.

Standard & Poor’s on Friday placed Banco de Sabadell’s A rating on CreditWatch negative on news that the Spanish bank is in merger talks with Banco Guipuzcoano. It also kept Caja Madrid’s A rating on CreditWatch negative on the addition of Bancaja to its group of potential merger partners.

Standard & Poor’s has affirmed at AAA mortgage covered bonds issued by Eurohypo and Barclays’ Spanish arm under its new rating criteria, and assigned the ratings a stable outlook.