Italy’s government needs to devise and implement a credible, medium-term fiscal consolidation plan to stabilise public debt given the challenges of high interest costs, excessive past tax incentives, and delays in growth-enhancing recovery plan spending.

Scope upgraded the class A notes and affirmed the Class B notes issued by Marathon SPV S.r.l., a static cash securitisation of a portfolio of Italian non-performing loan receivables, following a performance review.

Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope) upgrades the class B notes and affirms the class A1 and A2 notes issued by Alba 13 SPV S.r.l. following its periodic review.

No action has been taken on the rating for the senior unsecured bonds issued by PolSolar Kft. maturing in April 2037. The bonds have financed the construction of five greenfield photovoltaic plants in Hungary.

No action has been taken on the rated notes issued by Alba 12 SPV S.r.l. following the monitoring review. Class A1 has been repaid in full in January 2024.

Bondholders in the Hungarian National Bank’s Bond Funding for Growth programme (‘NKP’) face a covenant-related credit challenge amid difficult domestic economic conditions, says Scope Ratings.

The Outlook change reflects increased debt in 2023 combined with lower but still higher-than-historical power prices and the prospect of higher investments.

BBVA’s determination to pursue Banco de Sabadell and Sabadell’s confidence in its standalone strategy align with our view of the supportive banking environment in Spain, which remains an attractive market to deploy capital.

Monitoring review announcement.

Significant efforts have been made since the GFC to improve the supervision of systemically important banks and address the issue of too-big-to-fail. But on this and the effectiveness of AT1s in supporting G-SIB recovery, there is room for improvement.