OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Weinberg Capital Limited/Weinberg Capital LLC's (Weinberg) asset-backed commercial paper (CP) Short-term Rating at 'F1sf' following the annual review of the programme.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
Weinberg's CP is fully supported by Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW; A-/Stable/F1) which is the programme's sponsor, administrator, liquidity provider and hedge provider. LBBW's commitment under the transaction's liquidity agreements ensures the full and timely repayment of all maturing CP if Weinberg has insufficient funds on any CP maturity date. The CP rating is therefore linked to LBBW's Short-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'F1'.

The affirmation follows a discussion with LBBW's conduit management team and takes into consideration the conduit's performance, strategy, CP issuance, portfolio composition, IT administration systems, administrative procedures and credit policies.

Weinberg is a fully-supported, multi-seller ABCP programme structured to issue US CP and ECP to fund the purchase of eligible assets up to a programme limit of EUR5bn. The maximum tenor for US CP and ECP is 364 days and 270 days, respectively.

Fitch is aware of proposed amendments to the Weinberg programme to remove the programme termination event in case of a downgrade below 'F1sf' by Fitch and to include the ability to issue extendible and puttable CP products. We do not expect these amendments, once finalised, to have an impact on the transaction's rating.

As of 31 May 2015, the portfolio was comprised of trade receivables (63%), auto loans and leases (24%), and equipment loans and leases (13%). Most assets were EUR-denominated (91%) and most debtors were concentrated in Germany (68%). Weinberg's outstanding ECP was EUR1.7bn while assets funded in the programme were EUR1.7bn.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
If LBBW's Short-term rating is downgraded, the CP notes issued by Weinberg would also be downgraded.

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 transaction. There were no findings that were material to this analysis. Fitch has not reviewed the results of any third party assessment of the asset portfolio information or conducted a review of origination files as part of its ongoing monitoring.

Fitch did not undertake a review of the information provided about the underlying asset pools ahead of the transaction's initial closing. The subsequent performance of the transaction over the years is consistent with the agency's expectations given the operating environment and Fitch is therefore satisfied that the asset pool information relied upon for its initial rating analysis was adequately reliable.

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
Onsite presentation material provided by LBBW and monthly investor reports.