OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings today assigned its preliminary ratings to the class A-1-R, A-2-R, B-R, C-R, and D-R notes notes from Voya CLO 2012-4 Ltd., a collateralized loan obligation managed by Voya Alternative Asset Management LLC (see list).

The replacement notes will be issued via a proposed supplemental indenture. The amendment includes an extension to the non-call end date, reinvestment end date, weighted average test, and the legal final maturity dates. The amendment also incorporates the Capital IQ/GICS industry codes used in our revised collateralized debt obligation criteria, and includes changes around the industry concentration limits.

Various tranches in this transaction were upgraded in November 2015 due to improvements in the overcollateralization ratios and the portfolio's diversity. The preliminary ratings we are assigning to the replacement notes are the same as the original ratings on the refinanced notes to maintain rating cushion, as this transaction will now be able to reinvest for another four years.

On the Sept. 22, 2016, refinancing date, the proceeds from the issuance of the replacement notes are expected to redeem the original notes, upon which we anticipate withdrawing the ratings on the original notes, and assigning ratings to the replacement notes. However, if any of the proposed note refinancings don't occur, we may affirm the ratings on the original notes and withdraw the respective preliminary ratings.

Our review of the transaction also relied in part upon a criteria interpretation with respect to "CDOs: Mapping A Third Party's Internal Credit Scoring System To Standard & Poor's Global Rating Scale," published May 8, 2014, which allows us to use a limited number of public ratings from other Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSROs) to assess the credit quality of assets not rated by S&P Global Ratings. The criteria provide specific guidance for the treatment of corporate assets not rated by S&P Global Ratings, and the interpretation outlines the treatment of securitized assets.