OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has upgraded two ABS and one structured credit tranches, following the update of the Counterparty Criteria for Structure Finance and Covered Bonds (Counterparty Criteria) on 18 July 2016:

Foncaixa Consumo 1, FTA:

EUR879.7m class A notes: upgraded to 'A+sf' from 'Asf'; Stable Outlook

FTA, Santander Consumer Spain Auto 2012-1:

EUR44.8m class A notes: upgraded to 'A+sf' from 'A-sf'; Stable Outlook

Foncaixa Leasing 2 FTA:

EUR315.4m class A notes: upgraded to 'A+sf' from 'A-sf'; Stable Outlook

In Fitch's updated Counterparty Criteria, eligibility thresholds were revised so that direct support counterparties rated 'BBB' or 'F2' can support notes in the 'Asf' category. As a result, Fitch has conducted an event-driven review focused on counterparty eligibility. For each of the transactions listed above, the direct support counterparty rating triggers were slightly below the thresholds to support 'Asf' category ratings in the previous Counterparty Criteria.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Foncaixa Consumo 1, FTA and Foncaixa Leasing 2 FTA

The upgrade on the class A notes for both transactions reflect the eligibility of Caixabank SA (BBB/Positive/F2) as account bank under the updated Counterparty Criteria. The account bank rating triggers are 'BBBsf'/'F2' which can support notes in the 'Asf' category.

Although Fitch has not conducted a full review, performance for both transactions has improved since the last review in September 2015 for Foncaixa Consumo 1 and March 2016 for Foncaixa Leasing 2 FTA. For Foncaixa Consumo 1, 30 days past due delinquencies have remained stable at 4% while cumulative defaults of 2.8% were still well below Fitch's expectations as of end-March 2016. For Foncaixa Leasing 2, performance remained stable with 90 days past due delinquencies at 3.4% and cumulative defaults of 2.8%, in line with Fitch's expectations as of end-May 2016.

FTA, Santander Consumer Spain Auto 2012-1:

Similarly, the upgrade on the class A note reflects Santander Consumer Finance SA's (SCF, A-/Stable/F2) eligibility as account bank under rating triggers of 'BBBsf'/'F2'. Transaction performance has improved since the last review in October 2015. Cumulative defaults and cumulative recoveries as of end-May 2016 stood at 1.3% and 46.9% respectively, better than Fitch's expectations.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Not applicable as this rating action is solely focused on implementing the updated Counterparty Criteria

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

DATA ADEQUACY

Fitch has checked the consistency and plausibility of the information it has received about the performance of the transactions. Fitch has not reviewed the results of any third party assessment of the asset portfolio information or conducted any reviews of origination files as part of its ongoing monitoring.

Overall, Fitch's assessment of the information relied upon for the agency's rating analysis according to its applicable rating methodologies indicates that it is adequately reliable.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The information below was used in the analysis:

- Foncaixa Consumo 1, FTA transaction reporting provided by GestiCaixa SGFT as at 31 March 2016

- FTA, Santander Consumer Spain Auto 2012-1 transaction reporting provided by Santander de Titulizacion as at 20 May 2016

- Foncaixa Leasing 2, FTA transaction reporting provided by GestiCaixa as of 31 May 2016

MODEL

This rating action was the result of Fitch's criteria revision and therefore no models were used for the purpose of this action.