OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings today said it has assigned its preliminary 'AAA (sf)' rating to Japan Housing Finance Agency's (JHF) series 112 fixed-rate residential mortgage-secured pass-through notes. JHF will set the expected issue amount at or less than ?257.4 billion in mid-August.

The JHF series 112 notes are a securitization to be issued by JHF. A pool of residential mortgage loans that JHF purchased from private-sector financial institutions will ultimately back the notes. We base the preliminary rating on the notes on our view of the transaction's legal structure, credit support, and pool characteristics, among other factors.

Information that we obtain hereafter may lead us to assign a final rating that differs from the preliminary rating. We will assign a final rating after JHF finalizes the amount and exact terms of the notes and we complete a full rating analysis, including a review of the final pool, cash flow modeling, final structure, transaction documents, and legal opinion.

S&P Global Ratings' preliminary rating reflects its opinion on the likelihood of the timely payment of interest, or interest distribution in the case of beneficiary certificates, allowing for a three-month grace period, and the ultimate repayment of principal by the transaction's legal final maturity date.