FCT Bpifrance SME 2019-1 is a true-sale securitisation of a EUR 3.46bn revolving portfolio of loans granted to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France by Bpifrance. The entity acts as seller and servicer in the context of this transaction. BNP Paribas is the issuer account bank as well as the paying agent. The transaction closed on 25 October 2019 and featured an initial three-year replenishment period, subject to performance and asset-eligibility covenants, already extended once by two years.

Scope’s announcement addresses the credit impact of the proposed changes to the transaction, namely, amongst others, the extension of the revolving period by two additional years, up to 25 November 2025, and changes to the eligibility criteria and early amortisation triggers.

The outstanding portfolio and credit enhancement provided to the Class A remain unchanged at EUR 3.46bn and at 20.2% respectively.

Transactions documents have been amended to reflect the changes described above. Other amendments include the tightening of the cumulative default early-amortisation trigger to 3.5% until October 2024, and 4.5% thereafter until October 2024, as well as the modification of some existing loan and portfolio eligibility criteria.

The amendments were signed on 18 October 2023, and will become effective on 25 October 2023.

Scope’s analysis only covers the credit impact associated with the amendments described above. Scope Ratings has not addressed other non-credit related effects that may be relevant for investors and/or counterparties when assessing the impact of said amendments.

This announcement does not constitute a rating action nor indicates the likelihood of a credit rating action in the short term. The latest information on the credit ratings in this monitoring note along with the associated rating history can be found on www.scoperatings.com.