OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'BB-' issue rating to the US$400 million 4.5% senior unsecured loan participation notes (LPNs) due in 2019, issued by special purpose vehicle (SPV) OFCB Capital PLC for the sole purpose of financing a loan to Russia-based Bank Otkritie Financial Co. (BB-/Negative/B; 'ruAA-/--/--).

The rating is in line with the update on Aug. 9, 2016, of our "Group Rating Methodology," which clarifies how we rate LPNs issued by SPVs for the sole purpose of financing a loan to a corporate entity, financial institution, or insurance company (including their holding companies).

We rate LPNs issued by an SPV at the same level as we would rate an equivalent-ranking debt of the underlying borrower (the sponsor) and treat the contractual obligations of the SPV as financial obligations of the sponsor when the following conditions are met:

All of the SPV's debt obligations are backed by equivalent-ranking obligations with equivalent payment terms issued by the sponsor;The SPV is a strategic financing entity for the sponsor set up solely to raise debt on behalf of the sponsor's group; andWe believe the sponsor is willing and able to support the SPV to ensure full and timely payment of interest and principal when due on the debt issued by the SPV, including payment of any of the SPV's expenses. We consider that the LPNs meet all the aforementioned conditions. Therefore, the rating on the LPNs is equivalent to our long-term counterparty credit rating on Bank Otkritie Financial Co.