/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/220302.mbx        T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                          E U R O P E

          Wednesday, March 2, 2022, Vol. 23, No. 38

                           Headlines



B E L G I U M

BL CONSUMER 2021: Fitch Raises Class X Notes Rating to 'B-'


F I N L A N D

MULTITUDE SE: Fitch Affirms 'B+' LT IDR & Alters Outlook to Stable
NOKIA CORP: S&P Affirms 'BB+' ICR & Alters Outlook to Positive


G E R M A N Y

ATHENA BIDCO: Moody's Affirms 'B2' CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable


I R E L A N D

BARINGS EURO 2019-1: Moody's Gives B3 Rating to EUR12MM F-R Notes
PENTA CLO 3: Moody's Assigns (P)B3 Rating to EUR12.4MM F-R Notes


R U S S I A

ROSGOSSTRAKH PJSC: S&P Suspends 'BB+' ICR Amid OFAC Sanctions
SBERBANK INSURANCE: S&P Lowers ICR to 'BB+', On Watch Negative
SOVCOMBANK PJSC: Moody's Withdraws 'Ba1' LongTerm Deposit Ratings
SOVCOMBANK PJSC: S&P Puts 'BB/B' ICR on CreditWatch Negative
[*] RUSSIA: French Government to Wage Economic, Financial War

[*] S&P Lowers Ratings on 4 Russian Banks Amid Sovereign Downgrade


S P A I N

IM SABADELL 11: Moody's Ups Rating on EUR332.5MM B Notes From Ba2


S W E D E N

SAS AB: Moody's Lowers CFR to Caa3, Outlook Remains Negative
SAS AB: S&P Cuts ICR to 'CC' on Announced Debt-To-Equity Swap


T U R K E Y

TURK P&I: Fitch Lowers Insurer Finc'l. Strength Rating to 'B+'
[*] Fitch Cuts Foreign Currency IDRs on 20 Turkish Banks to 'B'


U K R A I N E

BANK ALLIANCE: S&P Lowers ICR to 'CCC/C', On Watch Developing
[*] UKRAINE: Heads of 8 EU Nations Call for Membership Talks


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

DAWNFRESH HOLDINGS: Enters Administration, Arbroath Facility Sold
DERBY COUNTY FOOTBALL: EFL Seeks Urgent Update on Funding
IWH UK FINCO: Fitch Affirms 'B' LongTerm IDR, Outlook Stable
IWH UK FINCO: S&P Affirms 'B' ICR & Alters Outlook to Stable
NMC HEALTHCARE: Expects to Exit Administration in Mid-March

OAKHAM: Enters Administration, Halts Issuance of New Loans
SME BROKER: Enters Liquidation, Owes Creditors More Than GBP200K
ST. PAUL'S IX: S&P Assigns Prelim. B- Rating on Class E Notes
WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE: Placed Into Administration

                           - - - - -


=============
B E L G I U M
=============

BL CONSUMER 2021: Fitch Raises Class X Notes Rating to 'B-'
-----------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has upgraded BL Consumer Issuance Platform II S.a
r.l. Compartment BL Consumer Credit 2021's class X notes to 'B-sf'
from 'CCCsf', and affirmed the others.

     DEBT              RATING           PRIOR
     ----              ------           -----
BL Consumer Issuance Platform II S.a r.l. Compartment BL Consumer
Credit 2021

A XS2303841857   LT AAAsf   Affirmed    AAAsf
B XS2303842152   LT AAsf    Affirmed    AAsf
C XS2303842400   LT Asf     Affirmed    Asf
D XS2303842582   LT BBB-sf  Affirmed    BBB-sf
E XS2303842749   LT BB+sf   Affirmed    BB+sf
F XS2303843044   LT BB-sf   Affirmed    BB-sf
X XS2303843127   LT B-sf    Upgrade     CCCsf

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

This transaction is the second public and first Fitch-rated
securitisation of revolving loan receivables and consumer loans
originated by Buy Way Personal Finance S.A./N.V. (Buy Way), an
unrated non-deposit-taking entity. Buy Way is a Belgian consumer
credit provider and insurance intermediary that offers credit
cards, revolving credit facilities and amortising personal loans to
individual customers in Belgium and Luxembourg.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Performance in Line With Expectations: The transaction has been
performing in line with Fitch's expectations. Loan in arrears by
more than 30 days were 0.9% of the pool at the end of December
2021, and net excess spread has been healthy, averaging about 4.7%
since the transaction closed. Fitch has maintained its asset
assumptions in line with those set during the initial rating
analysis in 2021.

Portfolio Migration Risk Still Relevant: The transaction is at the
end of the first year of its three-year revolving period, which
will last until March 2024. During this period, new receivables can
be purchased by the issuer. Subsequently, the issuer will be able
to purchase only further drawings on revolving credits already sold
to a special-purpose vehicle, subject to no prior seller event of
default. Fitch considers that the portfolio conditions related to
the transaction replenishment criteria could still allow
significant movements of some of the portfolio characteristics, and
stressed this in its analysis. Fitch took into account possible
increases in the share of specific products when assigning asset
levels to the portfolio. It also analysed different scenarios in
its cash flow analysis in which the shares of revolving credits and
instalment loans move up to their limit.

Class X Amortising as Scheduled: The class X notes' principal is
being repaid during the revolving period through interest funds
available after payment of all senior expenses interest on all
rated notes, all principal deficiency ledgers, and (if necessary)
the funding of the spread account. Class X notes are repaid
according to a scheduled amortisation expected to last 18 months.
More than half of this scheduled amortisation is passed and the
class X notes are still at target. Due to this, Fitch observes that
this class would be able to be repaid under stress scenarios up to
'B-sf'.

Key Counterparties Unrated: Buy Way acts in several capacities,
most prominently as originator, seller, servicer and seller
interest credit facility provider. The degree of reliance on Buy
Way's servicing activities is mainly mitigated by the appointment
of Intrum NV as back-up servicer. The presence of a pledge in
favour of the issuer on amounts held on the collection account
bank, a reserve fund and the overall set-up of the collection
process mitigate commingling and payment interruption risk.
However, Fitch's purchase rate assumptions on the revolving credit
sub-portfolio have been limited by the presence of an unrated
seller, among other things.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- Long-term asset performance deterioration, such as increased
    charge-offs and defaults, reduced monthly payment rate,
    reduced portfolio yield or reduced recoveries, which could be
    driven by changes in portfolio characteristics, macroeconomic
    conditions, business practices, credit policy or legislative
    landscape, would contribute to negative revisions of Fitch's
    asset assumptions that could negatively affect the notes'
    ratings. An increase in the charge-offs and defaults
    assumption by 25% and a decrease in the purchase rate
    assumption to 0% in all scenarios would result in a downgrade
    of up to one category for all notes.

-- For enhanced disclosure on Fitch's stresses and sensitivities
    on class A to F notes, see the transaction's new issue report.

-- Performance deterioration would lead to a downgrade of one
    notch for the class X notes, or in some scenarios principal
    losses.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- Long-term asset performance improvement such as decreased
    charge-offs and defaults, increased monthly payment rate,
    increased portfolio yield or increased recoveries driven by a
    sustainable positive change of the underlying asset quality
    would contribute to positive revisions of Fitch's asset
    assumptions, which could positively affect the notes' ratings.

-- The class A notes are rated 'AAAsf', the highest level on
    Fitch's scale and cannot be upgraded. A decrease of 25% in
    charge-offs for revolving credits and in defaults for
    instalment loans would have a positive impact of up to one
    rating category for the other notes.

-- For enhanced disclosure on Fitch's stresses and sensitivities
    on class A to F notes, see the transaction's new issue report.

-- A decrease of 25% in charge-offs and defaults would lead to an
    upgrade of 1 notch for class X.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Structured Finance
transactions have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as
the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive
direction) of seven notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a
worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th
percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction)
of seven notches over three years. The complete span of best- and
worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges
from 'AAAsf' to 'Dsf'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings
are based on historical performance.

DATA ADEQUACY

BL Consumer Issuance Platform II S.a r.l. Compartment BL Consumer
Credit 2021

Fitch has checked the consistency and plausibility of the
information it has received about the performance of the asset pool
and the transaction. 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.

Prior to the transaction closing, Fitch reviewed the results of a
third party assessment conducted on the asset portfolio information
and concluded that there were no findings that affected the rating
analysis.

Prior to the transaction closing, Fitch conducted a review of a
small targeted sample of the originator's origination files and
found the information contained in the reviewed files to be
adequately consistent with the originator's policies and practices
and the other information provided to the agency about the asset
portfolio.

Overall, and together with any assumptions referred to above,
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.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.




=============
F I N L A N D
=============

MULTITUDE SE: Fitch Affirms 'B+' LT IDR & Alters Outlook to Stable
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Multitude SE's Long-Term
Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative and affirmed
the IDR at 'B+'. The senior unsecured notes issued by Ferratum
Capital Germany GmbH (Ferratum Capital Germany) have been affirmed
at 'B+'/RR4 and the subordinated hybrid perpetual capital notes
issued by Multitude at 'B-'/RR6. Fitch has also assigned Multitude
a Shareholder Support Rating (SSR) of 'ns' (No Support).

Multitude is an online-focused consumer and SME finance company
operating predominantly in the high-cost credit sector with an
international footprint in 20 countries (mostly in Europe),
including a strong presence in its domestic market Finland. The
company is listed on the prime standard segment of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange and incorporates a Malta-domiciled bank (Ferratum
Bank p.l.c., not rated) under its wider franchise.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

IDR

The revision of the Outlook reflects the more stable economic
backdrop of Multitude's operating environment, as well as its
improved financial performance in 2021. Fitch believes that the
remaining downside risks from potential increase in unemployment
and further mobility restrictions to Multitude's key financial
metrics (most notably asset quality, profitability and leverage)
are captured in the current rating.

Fitch currently rates Multitude under its Non-Bank Financial
Institutions Rating Criteria as the company's main business is
focused on niche consumer lending (with its banking operations
mainly geared towards deposit gathering and the facilitation of
lending activities on the group in select markets).

Multitude's business model is mainly based on digital lending to
individual consumers and SMEs in the high-cost credit segment.
While temporary regulatory interventions during the pandemic, such
as payment holidays, have mostly been withdrawn, Multitude
continues to be confronted with an evolving regulatory landscape in
select markets in the longer term. The fairly lean cost structure
associated with the online platform has allowed the company to
build-up diverse geographic coverage (most recently Slovenia),
which mitigates the exposure to interest rate caps. However, in
Fitch's view, the business profile is sensitive to and weighed down
by the risk of further regulatory intervention in the wider
European markets. This is reflected in Fitch's ESG considerations.

To expand the addressable client base, Multitude has been
diversifying into the SME and prime consumer lending segments in
recent years, rebranding the two business units as CapitalBox and
SweepBank, respectively. Contributions are growing but remain a
small share of the revenue base (15% for the first three quarters
of 2021). Fitch expects the high-cost consumer credit segment
(branded as Ferratum) to remain the predominant contributor to the
group revenue in the short to medium term.

Multitude eased the stringent underwriting standards adopted at the
peak of the Covid 19 pandemic and increased the size of its gross
loans by 14% in the first nine months of 2021. Fitch expects the
loan book growth in 2022 and 2023 to revert to pre-pandemic
momentum of about 20% to 30% per year. The scaling-up of consumer
lending, combined with an expansion into new business segments with
longer average facility tenors and a larger average ticket size, is
likely to test the resilience of the risk management framework.
However, Fitch believes the short-term nature of its consumer loans
offers the company flexibility to scale down quickly if needed.

Our assessment of Multitude's asset quality recognises a higher
base line level of loan impairments compared with commercial banks
(average impaired ratio between 2017 and 2020: 36.7%), largely due
to the company's focus on consumers that fall outside the scope of
traditional banks, increasing credit risk. Despite a modest
increase in the loan book, the impaired ratio decreased to 31.7% at
end-3Q21 in comparison with 41.6% a year before. In Fitch's base
case, Fitch expects loan impairments to rise in the next two years
as the company accelerates loan growth but to stay broadly within
historical norms and in the range commensurate with the current
rating.

Due to the accumulation of deposits, leverage remains elevated,
with the gross debt to tangible equity ratio of 7.9x at end-3Q21
(6.3x at end-2020), tracking close to Fitch's base case projection
of 8x. Multitude's leverage position is somewhat mitigated by the
fact that funds backing deposits are primarily held in cash on
balance sheet with good quality counterparties. Furthermore,
excluding deposits from gross debt, the balance sheet leverage
ratio reduces to 2.6x at end-3Q21, with residual debt comprising
senior unsecured bonds and the subordinated perpetual capital
notes. Also, Multitude has previously demonstrated flexibility in
steering the deposit balance if needed, notably by reducing
interest rates paid and, thereby lowering gross leverage.

Earnings generation for 2021 remained somewhat compressed as a
result of the only gradual easing in credit approval criteria for
the first half of the year as well as the growth in the SweepBank
segment, which has notably lower margins. Supported by a reduction
in loan impairments, pre-tax profits improved in 3Q21 to EUR4.6
million (from EUR2.0 million in 3Q20). In the near term, Fitch
anticipates improved revenue generation as the company returns to
pre-pandemic rate of loan growth. However, Fitch expects the
revenue base will still trail pre-pandemic levels over the short to
medium term, given that the need to expand new businesses could
drive up operating costs and the potential risks surrounding asset
quality.

Multitude benefits from a largely unsecured funding profile,
comprising mainly online bank deposits and senior unsecured bonds.
While Fitch notes the shoring up of the deposit book and extension
of term maturities during the pandemic, Fitch's funding assessment
at group level remains weighed down by the limited fungibility of
funds across the group as well as the comparatively less sticky
nature of these deposits compared with traditional banks.

Liquidity is adequate (EUR312 million cash buffer at end-3Q21), but
the bulk of these funds is held within Ferratum Bank, including
EUR4.3million held with the Maltese Central Bank for regulatory
compliance purposes. Free liquidity is more limited for the wider
group. The bonds issued by Ferratum Capital Germany mature in June
2022 (EUR84 million) and April 2023 (EUR59 million) and the company
is actively seeking to refinance them in the coming months.
Multitude also issued EUR50 million of subordinated hybrid
perpetual capital notes in July 2021.

The SSR of 'ns' reflects Fitch's view that Multitude's shareholder
structure means there is no reasonable assumption that
extraordinary support is likely.

SENIOR UNSECURED NOTES

Ferratum Capital Germany's senior unsecured bonds are rated in line
with Multitude's Long-Term IDR because Multitude acts as the
guarantor of the bond issuance. The rating alignment reflects
Fitch's expectation of average recovery prospects of the senior
unsecured bonds, reflected in the assigned 'RR4' Recovery Rating.
The bonds constitute a direct and unsecured senior obligation of
Ferratum Capital Germany and rank pari passu with all present and
future senior unsecured obligations of the issuer.

SUBORDINATED NOTES

The subordinated perpetual hybrid callable notes are notched down
twice from Multitude's Long-Term 'B+' IDR as the notes represent
subordinated obligations of the company, which rank junior to any
present or future claims in respect of all unsubordinated
obligations and subordinated indebtedness of the company. The
notching also recognises Fitch's expectation of zero recovery
prospects for the subordinated notes, which corresponds to a
Recovery Rating of 'RR6'.

Multitude has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Exposure to Social
Impacts and Customer Welfare stemming from a business model focused
on high-cost consumer lending and hence exposure to shifts of
consumer or social preferences and to increasing regulatory
scrutiny. This has a moderately negative influence on the rating in
terms of impact on the pricing strategy, product mix, and targeted
customer base and is relevant to the ratings in conjunction with
other factors. This is the same for other consumer finance peers in
the high-cost credit sector.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

IDR

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- Materially lower leverage approaching 5x on a sustained basis.

-- Strengthening franchise resilience through improved scale and
    pricing power without a marked increase in risk appetite or a
    more diversified and stable business model following the
    successful expansion of new business segments, combined with
    better franchise entrenchment and asset quality improvements.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- A significant increase in leverage measured as debt to
    tangible equity above 8x on a sustained basis.

-- A weaker franchise, arising from a sustained loss in
    revenue/operational losses, an adverse reputational event, or
    a significant tightening of regulatory requirements in key
    markets resulting in a significant loss of business or notable
    margin pressure could result in a downgrade.

-- Increased risk appetite leading to higher credit losses as the
    product mix evolves toward larger and longer-term origination
    (such as SME and prime loans), especially if combined with
    looser provisioning standards, pressuring profitability and
    ultimately eroding Multitude's capital base.

-- Signs of funding weakness in the form of failure to refinance
    the maturing debt instruments, a loss of retail deposits at
    Ferratum Bank, or a loss of wholesale funding market access
    leading to higher refinancing risk.

-- Any sustained adverse operational developments at the Ferratum
    Bank level (either of a regulatory nature or with regard to
    customer confidence), thereby impacting the company's ability
    to effectively leverage its banking subsidiary as a market
    facing financial services provider.

-- The growth of Ferratum Bank in comparison with the rest of the
    group leading to increased structural subordination risk for
    wholesale creditors outside the bank.

SENIOR UNSECURED NOTES

The senior unsecured notes' rating is primarily sensitive to
changes in Multitude's Long-Term IDR. Changes to Fitch's assessment
of recovery prospects for senior unsecured debt in default (e.g.
the introduction of debt obligations ranking ahead of the senior
unsecured debt notes) could also result in the senior unsecured
notes' rating being notched below the IDR.

SUBORDINATED NOTES

The subordinated notes' rating is primarily sensitive to changes in
Multitude's Long-Term IDR. Changes to Fitch's assessment of going
concern loss absorption or recovery prospects for subordinated debt
in a default scenario (e.g. the introduction of features resulting
in easily activated going concern loss absorption or a permanent
write-down of the principal in wind-down) could also result in a
widening of the notching for the subordinated notes' rating to more
than two notches below Multitude's Long-Term IDR.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and
Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario
(defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in
a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating
horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative
direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of
best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating
categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario
credit ratings are based on historical performance.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Multitude SE has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Exposure to
Social Impacts due to {DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE/RATIONALE}, which has a
negative impact on the credit profile, and is relevant to the
rating[s] in conjunction with other factors.

Multitude SE has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Customer Welfare
- Fair Messaging, Privacy & Data Security due to {DESCRIPTION OF
ISSUE/RATIONALE}, which has a negative impact on the credit
profile, and is relevant to the rating[s] in conjunction with other
factors.

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.


NOKIA CORP: S&P Affirms 'BB+' ICR & Alters Outlook to Positive
--------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on telecommunications
equipment vendor Nokia Corporation to positive from stable, and
affirmed its 'BB+/A-3' ratings on the company and its 'BB+' rating
on its unsecured debt.

The positive outlook reflects the potential for a one-notch upgrade
if Nokia continues posting positive reported FOCF of at least
EUR800 million annually in 2022-2023, supported by growth at least
in line with its addressable markets and further profitability
improvements.

Nokia's product portfolio has strengthened. Nokia's first
generation of 5G base stations was less competitive than
competitors', at a time when demand for 5G equipment started to
ramp up. However, in 2019, Nokia started investing more in research
and development (R&D) to step up its 5G products, notably in
so-called "system on a chip" technology (Reefshark-based products).
Reefshark-based products, which currently represent about 75% of
base station shipments and are targeted to reach 100% of deliveries
by year-end 2022, deliver higher output capacity and consume less
energy, increasing system performance and reducing costs to the
operators.

Nokia has a broad product portfolio spanning mobile, fixed-line,
core, access networks, software, and enterprises, and a highly
profitable technology licensing business (currently the group holds
approximately 20,000 patent families, comprising more than 4,000
patent families declared as essential to the 5G standard), which
protects somewhat against revenue fluctuations in individual
subsegments.

S&P said, "We expect Nokia's EBITDA margin and FOCF to remain
strong in 2022 and thereafter. Thanks to Nokia's product quality
improvement, and successful cost efficiencies achieved from large
restructuring activities over the past 10 years (see chart below),
we expect reported comparable EBIT margin of about 11.5%-13.0% in
2022-2023, which is in the midrange of the company's guidance. This
would translate into 14%-16% adjusted EBITDA margin, versus 10.5%
in 2020 and 15.2% in 2021. We note that profitability in 2021
benefitted from a several one-off items, such as a software deal
and venture fund investments, boosting the EBIT margin by 150 basis
points. On top of that, the profitability improvement was also
supported by the increased number of deliveries of higher margin
Reefshark-based products."

Nokia's cash flows have been volatile and often negative in the
past 10 years because of the cyclicality of the sector. This is
also because of the company's continuous restructuring activities
to offset the revenue pressure from severe competition and volatile
demand affected, for instance, by technology cycles. The recent
restructuring, announced in March 2021, is expected to continue
over 2022-2023; however, due to Nokia's current strength in
end-markets, the company lowered the planned restructuring costs by
EUR100 million in total.

S&P said, "In 2021, we estimate that Nokia generated about EUR1.9
billion of FOCF after leases, the highest level for many years. We
note that the strong cash flows in 2020 benefitted from an early
payment of about EUR500 million received the last day of the year.
Cash flows in 2021 benefitted from one-off operating income items
and low working capital outflows. In 2022, we anticipate higher
working capital outflows as the company accumulates inventory and
trade receivables during 2022, leading to lower cash flow
generation than in 2021, at about EUR700 million-EUR1.0 billion. We
forecast further improvement of FOCF after leases in 2023 at EUR1.3
billion-EUR1.7 billion. Although we believe that restructuring
programs could continue in the future, due to the cyclicality of
the sector and as part of the company's efforts to offset
continuous price erosion, we think Nokia could be able to sustain
FOCF after lease generation of well above EUR800 million across
cycles.

Nokia's past market share loss in mobile networks has now
stabilized, while it gained market share in other segments in 2021.
Competition in mobile networks remains intense, as vendors try to
get their share in the promising 5G cycle. Over the past couple of
years, Nokia has lost market share in the global market for the
radio access network (RAN), which S&P thinks may have resulted from
a less competitive product offering than peers'. In 2020, Nokia
lost a 5G mobile network contract with Verizon, which materially
affected its 2021 revenue in this segment. Another reason for the
market share loss in recent years was China's growth in 5G, ahead
of other countries', which vendors with a bigger presence in China
than Nokia benefitted from. However, S&P thinks Nokia's market
share has stabilized recently and it could slightly improve in the
coming years supported by:

-- Significant R&D investments since 2019, resulting in Nokia
achieving a more competitive product, which S&P believes is now in
line with peers'.

-- Security concerns and restrictions over Huawei products
primarily in Europe. According to Nokia, the company has won about
half of the contracts from European operators that have opted to
swap from Huawei to an alternative vendor in Europe.

-- Relatively more 5G investments in markets outside China in the
coming years, where Nokia has a higher market share.

In the network infrastructure segment, which represents about 35%
of total revenue, Nokia outperformed the market across several
products. During the period between third-quarter 2017 and third
quarter 2021, Nokia's market share increased to 26% in service
provider routing from 21%, to 41% in fiber access from 37%, and to
16% in optical networking from 13% as a result of the improved
product quality. Nokia also remains the leader in submarine
networks.

S&P said, "Despite limited visibility in the longer term, we expect
Nokia's revenue could increase about 1%-3% in the next few years.
We anticipate Nokia's addressable markets will expand in the coming
years, mainly driven by 5G rollouts by telecom operators and
increased high speed connectivity demand from customers. In
infrastructure networks, we expect Nokia to benefit from the hybrid
working environment and 5G base station backhaul."

In the longer term, once the 5G rollout is completed, the revenue
trajectory in mobile networks is uncertain. On one hand, the
enterprise business could provide solid growth opportunities,
especially in the private wireless business, for example
manufacturing plants, railways, and utilities investing in new
private network generations. The impact that technology changes
such as Open RAN and Cloud RAN could bring to Nokia is still
unclear. If executed successfully, the new trends could also bring
opportunities to Nokia.

For 2022, S&P expects 3%-5% growth in each of Nokia's business
segments. S&P also expects Nokia to at least maintain its market
position across segments, leading to 3%-5% total revenue growth.

Another factor of uncertainty is the supply chain disruptions and
cost inflation that could challenge our base case. Nokia's sales in
2021 (3% like-for-like growth) were constrained by disruptions in
the supply chains of certain components, especially semiconductors.
Although the shortages stabilized in during 2021 and we expect
disturbances to ease throughout 2022, visibility remains low. In
addition, Nokia is trying to mitigate inflationary developments for
components, with increased prices passed on to customers. However,
S&P thinks this could be challenging, especially for existing
contracts. Therefore, S&P believes that the evolution of the supply
chain and inflation could pose a risk for Nokia and lead to lower
FOCF generation than it currently anticipates.

The positive outlook reflects the potential for a one-notch upgrade
if Nokia posts revenue growth in 2022 supported by growth of
addressable markets and at least stable market shares across its
main segments. S&P anticipates the EBITDA margin will remain above
13.5% thanks to cost efficiencies and product improvements, leading
to FOCF after lease generation of EUR700 million-EUR1 billion.

S&P said, "We could raise the rating if Nokia's expected revenue
and profitability improvement leads to FOCF after lease generation
of above EUR800 million and FOCF to debt of well above 25% on a
sustainable basis. This would need to be coupled with at least
stable market share in the main business segments and leverage
below 1.5x.

"We could revise the outlook to stable if Nokia fails to
sustainably generate FOCF after leases of above EUR800 million, if
the FOCF-to-debt ratio deteriorates below 25%, or if leverage
increases above 1.5x. We think such a scenario could result from
increased competition, a loss of market share, setbacks in
addressing the challenges of the supply chain and inflation, or
higher-than-anticipated restructuring costs."




=============
G E R M A N Y
=============

ATHENA BIDCO: Moody's Affirms 'B2' CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the B2 corporate family
rating and the B2-PD probability of default rating to Athena Bidco
GmbH (P&I), the entity that owns German-based HR-software provider
P&I Personal & Informatik AG. Concurrently, Moody's has affimed the
B2 instrument ratings to the EUR475 million senior secured first
lien term loan due 2027, the EUR30 million senior secured first
lien term loan due in 2027 and the EUR50 million senior secured
revolving credit facility (RCF) due 2026 borrowed by Athena Bidco
GmbH. The outlook on all ratings was changed to stable from
negative.

The change of the outlook to stable from negative reflects P&I's
strong revenue and EBITDA growth which increased by 12% and 15%
respectively during the first 9 months ended December 2021 driven
by continued successful customer migration to SaaS based HR
solutions. The performance improvements supported a strengthening
of P&I's credit metrics, supporting a strong positioning of P&I in
the B2 rating category.

RATINGS RATIONALE

P&I's performance has been solid over the last 24 months. Revenue
and EBITDA grew 11.8% and 15% in the 9 months ended December 2021,
respectively. Most of revenue growth was driven by a strong
performance in the company's cloud-based HR solutions as new and
existing customers continue their migration from on-premise to
cloud solutions. The strong Saas sales led to an increase in the
share from recurring revenue to 81% of total sales in December
2021, up from around 70% in 2020. In terms of profitability, P&I's
EBITDA margin improved from 49.1% in 2020 to 52.8% in 2021 and
53.9% in LTM December 2021. As a result, leverage as measured by
Moody's-adjusted gross debt to EBITDA, declined to 5.5x in LTM
December 2021 from the high levels of 7.1x in 2019. Hence, P&I is
currently strongly positioned within its B2 rating category.
Despite the company's strong deleveraging potential, Moody's sees a
risk of potential large debt-funded shareholder distribution as the
tolerance for high leverage tends to be high for private equity
majority owned companies.

P&I's B2 rating continues to reflect (1) the company's good number
two market position in the German medium-sized enterprise software
market as well as with a range of public customers, and the
resulting high share (around 81%) of recurring revenue; (2) the
company's strong track record of continuous revenue and EBITDA
growth over the last five years and its high margins resulting in a
good free cash flow generation that supports its deleveraging
potential.

Conversely, the rating is constrained by (1) the relatively small
size of the business in terms of revenue, and the concentration in
HR/payroll related software in German-speaking regions in Europe,
with public entities representing 40% of revenue and the remaining
60% being private midmarket customers; (2) the risk of customers
switching to larger providers with a more comprehensive enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system offering or disruption from smaller
and highly specialized vendors; and (3) the industrywide pressure
to move towards a SaaS offering, which will exert some pressure on
margins going forward.

RATINGS OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that P&I will
continue the successful transition to the cloud/subscription model
and remain free cash flow generative. The ratings and outlook do
not incorporate any debt-funded acquisitions and shareholder
distributions.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

The company's modest size and limited product and geographic
diversification constrain the upside potential on the rating.
However, positive rating pressure could develop if P&I continues to
grow its revenue as well as demonstrate progress in improving its
diversification. Furthermore, upward pressure on the rating could
occur if leverage were to be maintained below 5.5x, while the
company generates solid free cash flow at above 10% FCF to Debt
without any debt-funded shareholder distributions or major
acquisitions.

The rating could be downgraded as a result of customers failing to
transition to the cloud/subscription model or an increase in churn
rate, EBITDA stagnating or declining, leverage increasing above
6.5x, or FCF to debt declining to below 5%.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The B2 rating on the instruments, in line with the CFR, reflects
the pari passu capital structure comprising only the EUR475 million
senior secured first lien term loan due March 2027, the EUR30
million senior secured first lien term loan due March 2027 and the
EUR50 million RCF due September 2026. Hence, the instrument ratings
are aligned with the CFR. The debt security includes material
assets of the company's US operations and are guaranteed by
material subsidiaries accounting for at least 80% of consolidated
EBITDA.

LIQUIDITY PROFILE

P&I's liquidity profile is adequate. As of December 2021, the
company had EUR49 million cash on balance. In addition, the company
has access to the undrawn revolving credit facility (RCF) of EUR50
million due September 2026. Moody's also expects the company to
continue to generate solid free cash flow (after interest payments)
of at least EUR30 million per year.

There is one financial covenant in the debt documentation only
tested when the RCF is drawn more than 40%, under which Moody's
expects the company to retain solid capacity. The next maturity of
term debt is the EUR475 million Term Loan B in 2027.

In 2022/2023, P&I intends to upstream some cash to its holding
company Athena Holdco to reduce the PIK debt by about EUR50 to
EUR60. Although this will result in a reduction of the available
cash, Moody's expect the company's liquidity to remain adequate.

RATINGS METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Software
Industry published in August 2018.

COMPANY PROFILE

Athena Bidco GmbH, through holding companies, is the parent of P&I
Personal & Informatik AG, a provider of HR-related software
solutions to public and small to medium-sized private entities,
predominantly in Germany, but also in Austria and Switzerland. The
majority owner is Hg, while former majority-owner Permira and
management hold minority stakes. The company generated EUR165
million of revenue and EUR88.9 million of reported EBITDA in the 12
months that ended December 2021.




=============
I R E L A N D
=============

BARINGS EURO 2019-1: Moody's Gives B3 Rating to EUR12MM F-R Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following definitive ratings to refinancing notes issued by Barings
Euro CLO 2019-1 Designated Activity Company (the "Issuer"):

EUR248,000,000 Class A-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR24,000,000 Class B-1-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR15,000,000 Class B-2-R Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR25,500,000 Class C-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR28,000,000 Class D-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned Baa3 (sf)

  EUR19,500,000 Class E-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned Ba3 (sf)

EUR12,000,000 Class F-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

As part of this reset, the Issuer has extended the reinvestment
period to 4.64 years and the weighted average life to 8.5 years. It
has also amended certain concentration limits, definitions and
minor features. In addition, the Issuer has amended the base matrix
and modifiers that Moody's has taken into account for the
assignment of the definitive ratings.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 92.5% of the
portfolio must consist of secured senior loans or senior secured
bonds and up to 7.5% of the portfolio may consist of unsecured
senior loans, second-lien loans, high yield bonds and mezzanine
loans. The underlying portfolio is expected to be approximately 99%
ramped as of the closing date and to comprise of predominantly
corporate loans to obligors domiciled in Western Europe. The
remainder of the portfolio will be acquired during the 18 days
ramp-up period in compliance with the portfolio guidelines.

Barings (U.K.) Limited ("Barings ") will continue to manage the
CLO. It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of
collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
four and half year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to
certain restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal
proceeds from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from
sales of credit risk obligations and credit improved obligations.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

In addition to the seven classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer has issued EUR12,500,000 Class Z Notes, which are not rated.
Additionally, the originally issued EUR38,800,000 of Subordinated
Notes remain outstanding and are not rated.

Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2021.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2021.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Target Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 56

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 2995

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.75%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.50%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.50%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 7.5 years


PENTA CLO 3: Moody's Assigns (P)B3 Rating to EUR12.4MM F-R Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to refinancing notes to be issued by
Penta CLO 3 Designated Activity Company (the "Issuer"):

EUR4,000,000 Class X-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2035, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR248,000,000 Class A-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2035, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR40,000,000 Class B-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2035, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR22,800,000 Class C-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2035, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR27,200,000 Class D-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2035, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR20,400,000 Class E-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2035, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR12,400,000 Class F-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2035, Assigned (P)B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

Interest and principal amortisation amounts due to the Class X-R
Notes are paid pro rata with payments to the A-R Notes. The class
X-R Notes amortise by 10% or EUR400,000 over 10 payment dates,
starting on the 2nd payment date.

On November 16, 2017 (the "Original Issue Date"), the Issuer issued
EUR41,000,000 of unrated Subordinated Notes which will remain
outstanding. In addition, the Issuer will issue EUR12,450,000 of
Subordinated Notes due 2035 which are not rated.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of secured senior loans or senior secured
bonds and up to 10% of the portfolio may consist of unsecured
senior loans, second-lien loans, high yield bonds and mezzanine
loans. The underlying portfolio is expected to be fully ramped
shortly after the closing date and to comprise of predominantly
corporate loans to obligors domiciled in Western Europe.

Partners Group (UK) Management Ltd will continue to manage the CLO.
It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of
collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
four and half-year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to
certain restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal
proceeds from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from
sales of credit risk obligations and credit improved obligations.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2021.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2021.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Target Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 55

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3125

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.45%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.50%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 45.5%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 7.5 years




===========
R U S S I A
===========

ROSGOSSTRAKH PJSC: S&P Suspends 'BB+' ICR Amid OFAC Sanctions
-------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings suspended the ratings on Russian insurer
Rosgosstrakh PJSC.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) introduced sanctions against Rosgosstrakh PJSC,
among other entities, on Feb. 24, 2022.

S&P suspended its ratings on Rosgosstrakh because OFAC has listed
the company as a "specially designated national."

At the time of the suspension, the rating on Rosgosstrakh was on
CreditWatch with negative implications, reflecting the increased
geopolitical and economic risks in Russia and the potential
material impact of OFAC sanctions on the insurer's operations.

S&P will consider the suspension status of the ratings on
Rosgosstrakh and might reinstate them if the OFAC sanctions are
lifted, all else being equal.

  Ratings List

  NOT RATED ACTION  
                                     TO        FROM
  ROSGOSSTRAKH PJSC

  Issuer Credit Rating
   Local Currency                    NR     BB+/Watch Neg/--
  Financial Strength Rating
   Local Currency                    NR     BB+/Watch Neg/--

  NR--Not rated.


SBERBANK INSURANCE: S&P Lowers ICR to 'BB+', On Watch Negative
--------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings has taken negative rating actions on its rated
Russian insurers. The rating actions reflect its view of increased
geopolitical and economic risks in Russia and follow the downgrade
and negative CreditWatch placement of the Russian sovereign on Feb.
26, 2022.

The rating actions include the following:

-- S&P lowered the ratings on Sogaz Insurance and Ingosstrakh
Insurance Co. to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' and placed the ratings on
CreditWatch negative to reflect the lowering of the local currency
sovereign credit rating on Russia, as well as the negative
CreditWatch placement.

-- S&P lowered the ratings on Sberbank Insurance LLC to 'BB+' from
'BBB-' and placed them on CreditWatch negative to reflect the
combination of the lowering of the local currency sovereign credit
rating on Russia, the negative CreditWatch placement, and the
pressure on Sberbank group's creditworthiness.

-- S&P placed the ratings on VSK Insurance JSC, Energogarant
PJSIC, Lexgarant Insurance Co. Ltd., Alfastrakhovanie OAO,
Insurance Co. RESO-GARANTIA, and its nonoperating holding company
(NOHC), Stanpeak Ltd., on CreditWatch negative.

S&P considers that the escalation of Russia-Ukraine tensions, the
military operations in Ukraine, and the widening of sanctions
against Russia could lead to conditions that eventually destabilize
Russia's economy and financial system.

The U.S. and EU have announced a new slate of sanctions that
further limit Russia's access to the global economy and financial
markets and subsequently harm its financial sector. S&P believes
that these sanctions would likely constrain Russia's long-term
growth prospects and potentially make the country less attractive
to investors in the medium-to-long term.

So far this year, the value of the Russian stock market has dropped
by more than 40% and bond prices have fallen by more than 15% since
the beginning of 2022. S&P considers that the impact of recent
sanctions and possible additional ones could further intensify the
volatility in the domestic market and local currency, which in turn
could erode insurers' profitability and capital positions.

Russian insurers cumulatively hold about 52% of their balances in
securities (94% of which is fixed income). Therefore, these issues
represent a significant risk for insurers' capital positions,
driven by the negative revaluation of their securities portfolios.
Like banks, Russian insurers are now permitted to recognize in
their regulatory capital calculations a revaluation of securities
based on quotes as of Feb. 18, 2022--right before the massive index
drop. Given this relief, S&P does not see immediate pressure on
Russian insurers' regulatory ratios, though the fair value of their
portfolios has suffered significantly.

Overall, Russian insurers have a long position in foreign currency,
therefore the sector will generally benefit from the ruble
devaluation against the U.S. dollar observed in 2022 (in 2021, the
sector recorded losses due to ruble appreciation). S&P believes
that Russian insurers might experience the long-term effects of
foreign currency appreciation on their loss ratios with a lag, so
it doesn't expect immediate pressure on their technical results.

With financial leverage for the sector below 4%, Russian insurers
have very limited debt and do not depend on any financing raised
abroad. That said, they depend on reinsurance protection purchased
abroad (mainly in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France, and the
U.S.). The reinsurance utilization ratio fluctuates around 15% for
property/casualty (P/C) insurers.

CreditWatch

The CreditWatch placements reflect S&P's opinion that increased
geopolitical and economic risks in Russia will weigh on insurers'
creditworthiness. The negative implications of the CreditWatch
indicate the likelihood of additional negative rating actions on
all Russian insurers within the next 90 days.

S&P aims to resolve the CreditWatch once it has obtained sufficient
information on the risks involved, whether they will materialize,
as well as their likely impact.

  Ratings List

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  ALFASTRAKHOVANIE PLC

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BBB-/Watch Neg/--  BBB-/Stable/--

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  ENERGOGARANT PJSIC

  Issuer Credit Rating

   Local Currency                BB/Watch Neg/--     BB/Stable/--

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BB/Watch Neg/--     BB/Stable/--

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  SOGAZ INSURANCE

  Issuer Credit Rating

   Local Currency                BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB/Stable/--

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB/Stable/--

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  INGOSSTRAKH INSURANCE CO.

  Issuer Credit Rating

   Local Currency                BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB/Stable/--

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB/Stable/--

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  LEXGARANT INSURANCE CO. LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating

   Local Currency                BB-/Watch Neg/--    BB-/Stable/--

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BB-/Watch Neg/--    BB-/Stable/--

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  VSK INSURANCE JSC

  Financial Strength Rating      

   Local Currency                BB/Watch Neg/--     BB/Stable/--

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  SBERBANK INSURANCE LLC

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency                BB+/Watch Neg/--   BBB-/Stable/--

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                       TO            FROM
  RESO-GARANTIA INSURANCE CO.

  Issuer Credit Rating

   Local Currency             BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB-/Positive/--

  Financial Strength Rating

   Local Currency             BBB-/Watch Neg/--   BBB-/Positive/--

  STANPEAK LTD. LLC

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB/Watch Neg/--     BB/Positive/--


SOVCOMBANK PJSC: Moody's Withdraws 'Ba1' LongTerm Deposit Ratings
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has withdrawn the following ratings of
Sovcombank PJSC:

Long-term Bank Deposit Ratings of Ba1

Short-term Bank Deposit Ratings of Not Prime

Long-term Senior Unsecured Debt Rating of Ba1

Subordinated Debt Rating of B2(hyb)

Long-term Counterparty Risk Ratings of Baa3

Short-term Counterparty Risk Ratings of Prime-3

Long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment of Baa3(cr)

Short-term Counterparty Risk Assessment of Prime-3(cr)

Baseline Credit Assessment of ba2

Adjusted Baseline Credit Assessment of ba2

At the time of the withdrawal, the bank's long-term deposit and
senior unsecured debt ratings carried a stable outlook and the
bank's issuer outlook was also stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

Moody's has decided to withdraw the ratings for its own business
reasons.


SOVCOMBANK PJSC: S&P Puts 'BB/B' ICR on CreditWatch Negative
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings placed its 'BB/B' long- and short-term foreign
and local currency issuer credit ratings on Sovcombank PJSC on
CreditWatch with negative implications. S&P also suspended the
ratings on Sovcombank.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) introduced sanctions against Sovcombank PJSC, among
other Russian entities, on Feb. 24, 2022.

OFAC's inclusion of Sovcombank on its Specially Designated
Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list, may materially affect the
bank's operations and financial profile. S&P therefore placed the
ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.

S&P said, "We suspended our ratings on Sovcombank because it has
been included on OFAC's SDN list. We will consider the suspension
status of the ratings on Sovcombank and might reinstate them if the
OFAC sanctions are lifted, all else being equal."


[*] RUSSIA: French Government to Wage Economic, Financial War
-------------------------------------------------------------
BBC News reports that France's finance minister warned of an
economic and financial war against Russia.

The West has imposed punishing sanctions against Moscow, with
another raft of companies winding down Russian operations and
halting investment, BBC relates.

Having been up in early trading, the FTSE 100 turned negative amid
warnings of the consequences of Western sanctions on Moscow and
signs that Russia was stepping up its invasion of Ukraine, BBC
discloses.

According to BBC, on March 1, French finance minister Bruno Le
Maire gave a stark warning to Moscow if Russia continues its war.

"We will bring about the collapse of the Russian economy," he told
a French broadcaster.  "The economic and financial balance of power
is totally in favour of the European Union which is in the process
of discovering its own economic power.

"We are waging total economic and financial war on Russia," BBC
quotes Mr. Le Maire as saying.  According to an AFP news agency
report of his interview, Mr. Le Maire acknowledged that ordinary
Russians would also suffer from the impact of the sanctions, "but
we don't know how we can handle this differently".

Russia's currency was stable, having collapsed 30% on Monday, Feb.
28, to record lows against major currencies, BBC notes.

The rouble's fall cuts its buying power and hits savings of
ordinary Russians, BBC discloses.  The decline was only halted when
Russia's central bank doubled interest rates to make the currency
more attractive to investors, BBC relays.

The sanctions stranglehold on Moscow's finances has hit the central
bank's access to a lot of Russia's huge reserves of money held in
the form of foreign currencies, BBC discloses.

According to BBC, Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves
Lansdown, said: "This is a fast-moving situation and investors
should be mindful of potential share price volatility in the short
to medium term."

Oil prices, which have jumped on fears of a cut in Russian
supplies, rose slightly on March 1 despite US President Joe Biden
saying he was considering tapping the vast US reserves to help
mitigate potential lost output, BBC notes.


[*] S&P Lowers Ratings on 4 Russian Banks Amid Sovereign Downgrade
------------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings said that, following its downgrade of Russia on
Feb. 25, 2022, it has lowered its long- and short-term issuer
credit ratings on Raiffeisenbank AO, UniCredit Bank AO, and
Gazprombank JSC, as well as Alfa-Bank JSC and its holding company
ABH Financial Ltd.

S&P said, "We also placed our ratings on Russian financial
institutions, their debt issues, subsidiaries, and related entities
on CreditWatch with negative implications, since we believe these
entities face increased geopolitical and economic risks. The
CreditWatch placement on our rating on subsidiaries reflects the
likelihood that a potential decline in the parent companies'
creditworthiness would have a negative knock-on effect on those
entities.

"The downgrade of the four banks and one related holding company
follows the lowering of our foreign currency sovereign credit
ratings on Russia to 'BB+/B' from 'BBB-/A-3' and the local currency
ratings to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BBB/A-2'; all sovereign ratings were
placed on CreditWatch negative. We also revised downward our
transfer and convertibility assessment on Russia to 'BBB-' from
'BBB'.

"In our view, the escalation of Russia-Ukraine tensions, Russian
operations in Ukraine, and widening of sanctions against Russia
could lead to conditions that eventually destabilize Russia's
economy and financial system. The U.S. and EU have announced
sanctions that prohibit dealings with several banks and their
subsidiaries, and introduced restrictions for working with several
others, including restrictions of operations with Russian Central
Bank. These would likely constrain Russia's long-term growth
prospects and potentially make the country less attractive to
investors in the medium to long term. We understand that further
sanctions could be contemplated, which could further limit Russia's
access to the global economy and financial markets and hurt its
financial sector.

"So far this year, the Russian stock market value has dropped by
more than 40%. We consider that the impact of recent sanctions and
possible additional ones could intensify volatility in the domestic
market and the local currency, which in turn could erode banks'
profitability and capital positions. We plan to assess the impact
of any further potential sanctions on the Russian financial sector
as soon as we have details."

CreditWatch

S&P said, "Our CreditWatch placement reflects our opinion that
increased geopolitical and economic risks in Russia will weigh on
financial institutions' creditworthiness. The negative implications
of the CreditWatch indicate the high likelihood of negative rating
actions on Russian financial institutions, their debt issues,
subsidiaries, and related entities.

"We aim to resolve the CreditWatch once we have more clarity on the
full macroeconomic repercussions of the sanctions and the evolution
of the geopolitical conflict, including visibility on the risk of
new restrictions and their impact on Russia's banking industry."

  Ratings List

  ABH FINANCIAL LTD.              

  DOWNGRADED  
                                  TO              FROM
  ALFA DEBT MARKET LTD.

  Commercial Paper                B               A-3

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  ALFA-BANK JSC

  Issuer Credit Rating       BB+/Watch Neg/B      BBB-/Stable/A-3

  ALFA HOLDING ISSUANCE PLC

  Senior Unsecured           BB-/Watch Neg        BB+

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION; RATINGS AFFIRMED  
                                  TO              FROM
  ABH FINANCIAL LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating       BB-/Watch Neg/B      BB+/Stable/B

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH  

  ABH FINANCIAL LTD.

  Senior Unsecured           BB-/Watch Neg        BB+

  DOWNGRADED  

  ALFA-BANK JSC

  Commercial Paper                B               A-3

  CB RENAISSANCE CREDIT LLC            

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM

  CB RENAISSANCE CREDIT LLC

  Issuer Credit Rating       B+/Watch Neg/B       B+/Positive/B

  CENTROCREDIT BANK JSC             

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM

  CENTROCREDIT BANK JSC

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Watch Neg/B      B+/Stable/B

  CONCERN ROSSIUM LLC             

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
   CONCERN ROSSIUM LLC

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Watch Neg/B      B+/Stable/B

  CREDIT BANK OF MOSCOW

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB/Watch Neg/B      BB/Stable/B

  CBOM FINANCE PLC

  Senior Unsecured            BB/Watch Neg        BB

  CREDIT UNION PAYMENT CENTER           

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM

  CREDIT UNION PAYMENT CENTER

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB+/Watch Neg/B     BB+/Stable/B

  FG BCS LTD.               

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  
  FG BCS LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Watch Neg/B      B+/Stable/B

  BCS PRIME BROKERAGE LTD.
  BROKERCREDITSERVICE STRUCTURED PRODUCTS PLC
  BROKERCREDITSERVICE (CYPRUS) LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB-/Watch Neg/B     BB-/Stable/B

  FIRST CLIENT BUREAU NPJSC            

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  FIRST CLIENT BUREAU NPJSC

  Issuer Credit Rating        B/Watch Neg/--      B/Stable/--

  FREEDOM HOLDING CORP.             

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  BANK FREEDOM FINANCE KAZAKHSTAN JSC
  FREEDOM FINANCE JSC

  Issuer Credit Rating         B/Watch Neg/B      B/Stable/B

  Kazakhstan National Scale    kzBB+/Watch Neg/-- kzBB+/--/--

  FREEDOM FINANCE EUROPE LTD.
  INVESTMENT CO. FREEDOM FINANCE LLC
  FREEDOM FINANCE GLOBAL PLC

  Issuer Credit Rating         B/Watch Neg/B      B/Stable/B

  GAZPROMBANK JSC              

  DOWNGRADED  
                                  TO              FROM
  GPB FINANCE PLC

  Commercial Paper                B               A-3

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  BANK GPB INTERNATIONAL S.A.
  GAZPROMBANK JSC
  GAZPROMBANK (SWITZERLAND) LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating         BB+/Watch Neg/B    BBB-/Stable/A-3

  GAZPROMBANK JSC

  Senior Unsecured             BB+/Watch Neg      BBB-

  DOWNGRADED  

  GAZPROMBANK JSC

  Commercial Paper             B                   A-3

  BANK SOYUZ            

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  BANK SOYUZ

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB-/Watch Neg/B     BB-/Stable/B

  INVESTMENT CO. VELES CAPITAL LLC          

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  INVESTMENT CO. VELES CAPITAL LLC

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB-/Watch Neg/B     BB-/Stable/B

  QIWI PLC                

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  QIWI PLC

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB-/Watch Neg/B     BB-/Negative/B

  RN BANK JSC               
  
  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  RN BANK JSC

  Issuer Credit Rating     BB+/Watch Neg/B        BB+/Stable/B

  RAIFFEISEN BANK INTERNATIONAL AG          

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  RAIFFEISENBANK AO

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB+/Watch Neg/B     BBB-/Stable/A-3

  RENAISSANCE FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD.         

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  RENAISSANCE FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating        B/Watch Neg/B      B/Stable/B

  RONIN EUROPE LTD.              

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  RONIN EUROPE LTD.

  Issuer Credit Rating        BB-/Watch Neg/B     BB-/Stable/B

  RUSSIAN STANDARD BANK JSC            

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  RUSSIAN STANDARD BANK JSC

  Issuer Credit Rating         B/Watch Neg/B      B/Positive/B

  UNICREDIT SPA               

  DOWNGRADED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  UNICREDIT BANK AO

  Issuer Credit Rating         BB+/Watch Neg/B    BBB-/Stable/A-3

  URAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT       

  RATINGS AFFIRMED; CREDITWATCH ACTION  
                                  TO              FROM
  URAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

  Issuer Credit Rating          B/Watch Neg/B     B/Stable/B




=========
S P A I N
=========

IM SABADELL 11: Moody's Ups Rating on EUR332.5MM B Notes From Ba2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the rating of one class of
notes issued by IM SABADELL PYME 11, FONDO DE TITULIZACION. The
rating action reflects the increased level of credit enhancement
for the affected notes.

EUR332.5M Class B Notes, Upgraded to A2 (sf); previously on Aug 2,
2021 Upgraded to Ba2 (sf)

Moody's has also affirmed the rating of Class A Notes that had
sufficient credit enhancement to maintain their current rating:

EUR1567.5M (current outstanding amount EUR8.1M) Class A Notes,
Affirmed Aa3 (sf); previously on Aug 2, 2021 Affirmed Aa3 (sf)

IM SABADELL PYME 11, FONDO DE TITULIZACION is an ABS backed by
small to medium sized enterprises ("ABS SME") loans located in
Spain. The deal was originated by Banco Sabadell, S.A. (Baa2/P-2)
and closed in December 2017.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rating action is prompted by an increase in credit enhancement
and the subsequent low likelihood of interest shortfall for the
affected tranche.

Revision of Key Collateral Assumptions:

As part of the rating action, Moody's reassessed its default
probability and recovery rate assumptions for the portfolio
reflecting the collateral performance to date.

The performance of the transaction has continued to be stable since
the last rating action in August 2021. Total delinquencies have
decreased in the last six months, with 90 days plus arrears
currently standing at 0.49% of current pool balance. Cumulative
defaults currently stand at 3.38% of original pool balance up from
3.27% a year earlier.

For IM SABADELL PYME 11, FONDO DE TITULIZACION the current default
probability is 19.5% of the current portfolio balance and the
assumption for the fixed recovery rate is 35%. Moody's has
decreased the CoV to 20.6% from 22.5%, which, combined with the
revised key collateral assumptions, corresponds to a portfolio
credit enhancement of 22.3%.

Moody's increased the default probability assumption to 19.5% from
18.5% to reflect the portfolio composition based on updated loan by
loan information, taking into consideration the current industry
concentration among other credit risk factors.

Moody's has incorporated the sensitivity of the ratings to borrower
concentrations into the quantitative analysis. In particular,
Moody's considered the credit enhancement coverage of large debtors
in the transaction as it shows significant exposure to large
debtors. The results of this analysis limited the potential upgrade
of the rating on the Class B Notes to A (sf) category as credit
enhancement of 27.3% only covers top 20 debtors.

Increase in Available Credit Enhancement

Sequential amortization led to the increase in the credit
enhancement available in this transaction.

For instance, the credit enhancement for the tranche affected by
the rating action increased to 27.3% from 21.9% since the last
rating action.

Counterparty Exposure

The rating actions took into consideration the notes' exposure to
relevant counterparties, such as servicer or account bank.

Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating SME Balance Sheet Securitizations" published in
July 2021.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

Factors or circumstances that could lead to an upgrade of the
ratings include (1) performance of the underlying collateral that
is better than Moody's expected, (2) an increase in available
credit enhancement and (3) improvements in the credit quality of
the transaction counterparties and (4) a decrease in sovereign
risk.

Factors or circumstances that could lead to a downgrade of the
ratings include (1) an increase in sovereign risk, (2) performance
of the underlying collateral that is worse than Moody's expected,
(3) deterioration in the notes' available credit enhancement and
(4) deterioration in the credit quality of the transaction
counterparties.



===========
S W E D E N
===========

SAS AB: Moody's Lowers CFR to Caa3, Outlook Remains Negative
------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the corporate family
rating of SAS AB to Caa3 from Caa1 and the probability of default
rating to Ca-PD from Caa1-PD. Concurrently the agency has
downgraded SAS Denmark-Norway-Sweden backed senior unsecured MTN
program rating to (P)Caa2 from (P)B3 and the backed subordinate
rating to Ca from Caa2. Also Moody's has affirmed SAS
Denmark-Norway-Sweden's commercial paper program at NP and its
backed other short term (P)NP ratings. The baseline credit
assessment (BCA) has been lowered to ca from caa2. The outlook on
both entities ratings remains negative.

A List of Affected Credit Ratings is available at
https://bit.ly/3MfyCKW

RATINGS RATIONALE

The downgrade of the probability of default rating to Ca-PD from
Caa1-PD was prompted by SAS AB's announcement on February 22, 2022
of a broad SEK7.5 billion cost reduction programme that includes
amongst other the proposal of a debt to equity swap for all hybrid
and senior unsecured debt instruments issued by SAS AB and SAS
Denmark-Norway-Sweden. The debt to equity swap proposal comes
alongside a broader restructuring of SAS AB' balance sheet with
leasing and aircraft financing contracts to be part of the
negotiation and a capital increase to build a more significant
liquidity buffer. SAS AB has provided a liquidity target of 30% of
revenue, which would imply a material capital increase especially
if the target liquidity is against a normalized level of revenue
post pandemic. In any case Moody's expect SAS AB's government
shareholders to remain supportive of the airline and to participate
in the capital increase. However the risk of losses to creditors
has significantly increased hence the downgrade of the Probability
of Default rating to Ca-PD. The completion of the debt to equity
swap would constitute a limited default under Moody's
methodologies.

The downgrade of the corporate family rating to Caa3 from Caa1, a
two notch downgrade compared to the three notch downgrade of the
probability of default rating reflects Moody's expectation that the
government shareholders will provide financial support through
their participation in the planned capital increase, which should
improve the recovery prospects of creditors, especially for the
senior unsecured creditors. While the company has not yet disclosed
the terms and conditions of the debt to equity swap for each class
of debt, Moody's believes that the debt haircut will be more
significant than for the first conversion of some debt instruments
that was announced in June 2020.

The negative outlook on the ratings reflects (i) the execution risk
on the implementation of the debt to equity swaps on the hybrid and
senior unsecured debt instruments, and (ii) the risk that recovery
expectations could be lowered and rated instruments haircut
increased if the support from the government shareholders is lower
than Moody's currently expect.

LIQUIDITY

SAS AB had SEK3.4 billion of cash & marketable securities on
balance sheet as per January 31, 2021 and access to SEK3.0 billion
of unused credit lines from the Swedish and Danish governments.

Moody's estimate that SAS AB has sufficient liquidity to continue
operating until it finalizes its capital increase that will
significantly improve its liquidity position with a targeted
liquidity buffer of at least 30% of group revenue.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Positive rating pressure is not anticipated at this stage in light
of the pending execution of a debt to equity swap that would
constitute a limited default under Moody's methodologies.

The ratings of SAS AB could be lowered further if the recovery
prospects for creditors are lower than Moody's currently expect
when SAS AB presents the terms and conditions of the debt to equity
swaps for the various creditor classes.


SAS AB: S&P Cuts ICR to 'CC' on Announced Debt-To-Equity Swap
-------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term issuer credit rating on
Scandinavian airline SAS AB to 'CC' from 'CCC'.

The negative outlook reflects S&P's expectation that it will lower
its issuer credit rating on the company to 'SD' (selective default)
on the completion of the proposed transaction.

SAS has announced a business and financial transformation plan, in
which it intends to convert hybrid bonds, unsecured debt, and
obligations associated with mark-to-market aircraft-financing
agreements to equity.

S&P will view SAS' debt-to-equity swap as distressed and as
tantamount to default once completed.

European air passenger traffic remains below pre-pandemic levels,
which has a negative bearing on SAS' credit quality. S&P thinks
that the disruption to air passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19
omicron variant will be short-lived, and that positive traffic
momentum will resume in the second quarter of 2022, picking up pace
in the summer season. Nevertheless, the recovery in air passenger
traffic depends heavily on general health conditions.

SAS has announced a transformation plan for both business and
financial restructuring. One of the plan's pillars is the
conversion to equity of hybrid bonds, unsecured debt, and
obligations associated with mark-to-market aircraft-financing
agreements. S&P understands that negotiations with creditors about
the debt-to-equity swap are at an early stage.

S&P will regard SAS' debt-to-equity swap as tantamount to default
once completed. This is because, in its view, the offer implies
that the creditors will receive less than what was originally
promised, and that the swap is therefore distressed.

The negative outlook reflects S&P's expectation that it will lower
our issuer credit rating on SAS to SD on the completion of the
proposed debt-to-equity transaction.




===========
T U R K E Y
===========

TURK P&I: Fitch Lowers Insurer Finc'l. Strength Rating to 'B+'
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has downgraded Turk P ve I Sigorta A.S.'s (Turk P&I)
Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating to 'B+' from 'BB-'. The
Outlook is Negative.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The downgrade follows Fitch's similar rating action on Turkey's
Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) on 11 February
2022 and a subsequent downgrade of Turkish banks' ratings. Today's
rating action reflects Turk P&I's exposure to the Turkish operating
environment and investments held in deposits held in Turkish banks
as well as sovereign and bank bonds.

The rating of Turk P&I reflects a less established business
franchise compared with other Turkish insurers', its investment
risks that are skewed towards the Turkish banking sector, and
exposure to the Turkish economy, in line with the rest of the
market. The rating also reflects Turk P&I's strong liquidity
profile, very strong but potentially volatile earnings, and
adequate capitalisation.

The downgrade of Turkey's sovereign rating reflects Turkey's
increased vulnerabilities in terms of high inflation, low external
liquidity and weak policy credibility, which affect Fitch's
assessment of 'industry profile and operating environment' (IPOE).

Fitch ranks Turk P&I's company profile as 'moderate' compared with
other Turkish insurers', despite the company's small size, limited
history and less established business lines. This is because Fitch
believes its ownership structure, equally divided between public
and private interests, and its strategic role in Turkey, are
positive for its company profile. Turk P&I's increasing
international diversification also benefits the company profile.

Investments on Turk P&I's balance sheet comprise deposits in
Turkish banks, with some concentration on a single state-owned bank
as well as bonds issued by the government and domestic banks. This
indicates a high exposure to the banking sector in Turkey, although
the company started to diversify its investment portfolio since
2020 towards bonds. Liquidity is strong for the rating.

Turk P&I's earnings remained strong in 2021, with net income of
TRY56 million (2020: TRY16 million). Fitch expects the results will
remain very strong for the rating, which will continue to support
the company's very strong expected growth in 2022.

Turk P&I scored 'Adequate' under Fitch's Prism Factor-Based Capital
Model (FBM) and its solvency ratio stood at 109% at end-2021. Fitch
believes capitalisation supports the rating, and Fitch expects such
capital levels to be maintained in 2022.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- Material deterioration in the Turkish economy or the company's
    investment quality, as reflected in a downgrade of Turkey's
    Long-Term Local-Currency IDR;

-- Business-risk profile deterioration, due to, for example,
    sharp deterioration in the maritime trade environment.

Factor that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- Material improvements in the Turkish economy or the company's
    investment quality, as reflected in a revision of the Outlook
    to Stable on Turkey's Long-Term Local-Currency IDR, could lead
    to an Outlook revision to Stable on Turk P&I's IFS Rating.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and
Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario
(defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in
a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating
horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative
direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of
best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating
categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario
credit ratings are based on historical performance.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.


[*] Fitch Cuts Foreign Currency IDRs on 20 Turkish Banks to 'B'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC)
Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of 20 Turkish banks to 'B' from 'B+'.
The agency has also downgraded the Long-Term Local Currency (LTLC)
IDRs of 18 banks. Fitch has placed 15 banks' 'b+' Viability Ratings
(VRs) on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).

The banks' LT IDRs are largely on Negative Outlook, mirroring the
sovereign Outlook. However, Turkiye Halk Bankasi (Halk) remains on
RWN, while the LTLC IDRs of Akbank T.A.S., Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S.
(Isbank), Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi A.S. (YKB), Anadolubank A.S. and
Arap Turk Bankasi A.S. (ATB)) have also been placed on RWN as a
result of the RWN on their VRs.

Fitch has also taken similar rating actions on banks' financial
subsidiaries, where relevant.

The rating actions follow the downgrade of Turkey's sovereign
rating on February 11, 2022. This reflected increased sovereign
vulnerabilities in terms of high inflation, low external liquidity
and weak policy credibility, and Fitch's expectation that the
authorities' policy response to reduce inflation will not
sustainably ease macroeconomic and financial stability risks. Fitch
considers that Turkey's continued expansionary policy mix, could
eventually weigh on domestic confidence and reignite pressures on
international reserves, which remain deeply in negative territory
net of foreign-exchange (FX) swaps, including with Turkish banks.

Increased risks to macroeconomic and financial stability and
external financing at the lower sovereign rating level increase the
likelihood of government intervention in the banking system, which
Fitch continues to view as higher than the risk of a sovereign
default. This view drives the downgrades of most banks' LTFC IDRs
to 'B' from 'B+'. There is one exception, Turkiye Kalkinma ve
Yatirim Bankasi (TKYB), a small, state-owned policy bank, whose
ratings are equalised with the sovereign on the basis of support.

Two support-driven state-owned banks, Turkiye Ihracat Kredi Bankasi
A.S. (Turk Eximbank) and Turkiye Emlak Katilim Bankasi A.S. (Emlak
Katilim) (a participation bank), have also been downgraded, to 'B'
from 'B+, and 'B-' from 'B', respectively, reflecting Turkey's
weaker ability to provide support in FC given its weak FC reserves
position.

Following the aforementioned rating actions the 15 banks with VRs
of 'b+' have standalone ratings one notch higher than their 'B'
LTFC IDRs. This reflects the fact that transfer, convertibility and
intervention risks are captured in banks' LTFC IDRs but not in
their VRs, according to Fitch's Bank Rating Criteria.

Nevertheless, the RWNs on the banks' VRs signal a heightened
probability of downgrades in most cases amid market volatility,
given risks to capitalisation, funding (due to refinancing risks
and high deposit dollarisation), FC liquidity, asset quality and
performance. Fitch expects to resolve the RWNs in the next six
months, based on an analysis of the extent to which banks' capital
and FC liquidity buffers would allow them to remain solvent and
liquid in a scenario where legal restrictions are imposed on banks'
servicing of FC obligations, particularly given the high
interconnectedness between Turkey's sovereign and bank credit
profiles.

Turkish banks' National Ratings (NRs) are unaffected by this review
and may be reviewed once, and if, Fitch's NR equivalency analysis
results in different relative creditworthiness across Turkish
issuers.

Fitch has assigned Government Support Ratings (GSRs) to four banks
under review (Halk, ATB, Anadolubank and Fiba) and a Shareholder
Support Rating to Akbank AG. This follows the withdrawal of these
banks' respective Support Ratings and Support Rating Floors as they
are no longer relevant to Fitch's coverage following the
publication of the updated Bank Rating Criteria on  November 12,
2021.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

-- VRS

-- Akbank

-- ATB

-- Anadolubank

-- Denizbank A.S.

-- ING Bank A.S.

-- Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi A.S (Kuveyt Turk)

-- QNB Finansbank A.S. (QNBF)

-- T.C. Ziraat Bankasi A.S. (Ziraat)

-- Turk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. (TEB)

-- Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi A.S. (TFKB)

-- Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. (Garanti BBVA)

-- Isbank

-- Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi A.S. (TSKB)

-- Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi T.A.O. (Vakifbank)

-- YKB

The RWNs on the 15 banks' VRs reflect heightened risks to
standalone credit profiles amid heightened operating environment
pressures, as reflected in the downgrade of Turkey's sovereign
rating. Turkish banks are vulnerable to exchange-rate volatility
due to refinancing risks, given their reliance, to varying degrees,
on external FC wholesale funding amid exposure to investor
sentiment, high sector FC lending given the impact on asset
quality, and deposit dollarisation, due to risks to FC liquidity.
Capital ratios have also been eroded by lira depreciation due to
the inflation of FC risk-weighted assets (RWAs).

Fitch believes risks to Turkey's macroeconomic and financial
stability have increased due to weak monetary policy credibility
that has led to significant depreciation of the Turkish lira in
4Q21 and very high inflation. Risks remain skewed to the downside
given policy uncertainty in the run-up to the 2023 elections and
Turkey's large external financing need amid tighter global
financing conditions, while the impact of such government measures
as the FX protected lira deposit mechanism on banks' funding
profiles is unclear.

IDRS, GSRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF STATE-OWNED COMMERCIAL BANKS
AND DEVELOPMENT BANKS:

-- Ziraat

-- Vakifbank

-- Vakif Katilim Bankasi A.S. (VKB)

-- TSKB

-- Turk Eximbank

-- TKYB

-- Emlak Katilim

-- Halk

Fitch regards the authorities as having a high propensity to
support the state-owned commercial (Ziraat, Vakif, Halk) and
participation (Emlak Katilim, VKB) banks, as well as the three
development banks (TSKB, Turk Eximbank, TKYB), given their majority
state-ownership (except TSKB), policy roles, strategic importance
to the authorities and the record of support.

However, Turkey's weak financial flexibility in FC - as reflected
in the sovereign's weak net FX reserves position - constrains its
ability to provide support in FC. This drives the downward revision
of banks' GSRs (TSKB, Turk Eximbank, TKYB, Ziraat, Vakif, VKB,
Emlak Katilim) following the sovereign downgrade. Fitch has also
assigned a 'b-' GSR to Halk.

With the exception of TKYB the banks' GSRs are all notched at least
once below Turkey's rating despite a high sovereign propensity to
provide support.

Where banks' LT IDRs are driven by sovereign support, their
Outlooks mirror those on the sovereign.

The RWN on Halk continues to reflect Fitch's view of the material
risk of the bank becoming subject to a fine or other punitive
measure as a result of the US legal proceedings, and uncertainty
surrounding the sufficiency and timeliness of support from the
Turkish authorities in case of these measures.

TKYB's 'B+' LTFC IDR is equalised with the sovereign on the basis
of support given its small size relative to sovereign resources,
still largely treasury-guaranteed funding base and its medium-term
tenor of non-guaranteed funding (as a result of which its potential
need for support in the near term is likely to be limited).

Turk Eximbank's support-driven LTFC IDR of 'B' is one notch below
Turkey's LTFC IDR despite its strategic policy role as the
country's export credit agency, reflecting its considerably larger
balance sheet and volumes of external market funding than TKYB.

The GSRs of Ziraat, Vakif, Emlak Katilim, TSKB and VKB have been
lowered to 'b-' from 'b', two notches below the sovereign. As a
result, Emlak Katilim's LTFC IDR, which is driven by its GSR, has
been downgraded to 'B-' from 'B'. At the same time, VKB's LTFC IDR
is now driven by its VR as opposed to its GSR, given Fitch's
'higher of' rating approach.

The rating actions on banks' senior unsecured debt ratings, where
relevant, mirror those on their respective IDRs.

The LTLC IDRs of all state-owned commercial banks and development
banks are driven by support and are downgraded to 'B+' from 'BB-'.
The equalisation of their LTLC IDRs with the sovereign - above
their respective LTFC IDRs in all cases except TKYB - reflects a
higher sovereign ability to provide support, and a lower risk of
government intervention, in lira, in Fitch's view.

LT IDRS, GSRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF PRIVATELY OWNED TURKISH
BANKS:

-- Akbank

-- Isbank

-- YKB

-- ATB

-- Anadolubank

-- Fibabanka Anonim Sirketi (Fiba)

The LTFC IDRs of the six privately owned Turkish banks - which are
driven by their VRs - have been downgraded to 'B' from 'B+'
reflecting increased government intervention risk following the
sovereign rating downgrade. The Negative Outlooks on the LTFC IDRs
mirror that on the sovereign.

Following the sovereign downgrade, Fitch no longer factors
sovereign support into privately owned banks' LTLC IDRs. The banks'
LTLC IDRs, which are now driven by their VRs, are 'B+', one notch
above their respective LTFC IDRs, but are placed on RWN, reflecting
the RWN on their VRs.

Fiba's LTLC IDR has also been affirmed at 'B+', but is one notch
above its VR due to its large buffer of qualifying junior debt
(QJD) which could protect senior obligations in case of default,
and the Negative Outlook mirrors that on the sovereign.

The GSRs of Akbank, Isbank and YKB have been revised down to 'No
Support' (ns) from 'b-', notwithstanding their systemic importance,
as Fitch believes support from the authorities in FC, in case of
need, cannot be relied upon given the sovereign's weak financial
flexibility. Fitch has also assigned 'ns' GSRs to ATB, Anadolubank
and Fiba, following the withdrawal of their respective Support
Ratings and Support Rating Floors. This reflects Fitch's view that
state support cannot be relied upon, in case of need, given the
banks' limited systemic importance.

The rating actions on the banks' senior unsecured debt ratings,
where relevant, mirror those on their respective IDRs.

IDRS, SSRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF FOREIGN-OWNED BANKS:

-- Garanti BBVA

-- ING Bank

-- QNBF

-- TEB

-- Denizbank

-- Alternatifbank A.S.

-- Burgan Bank A.S.

-- Kuveyt Turk

-- TFKB

The downgrades of the nine foreign-owned Turkish banks' LTFC IDRs
to 'B' from 'B+', and Shareholder Support Ratings (SSR) to 'b' from
'b+', capture government intervention risks and reflect Fitch's
assessment that weaknesses in Turkey's external finances make some
form of intervention that would impede banks' ability to service
their FC obligations more likely than a sovereign default.

The banks' SSRs also reflect their strategic importance to their
respective parents, ownership, integration and role within their
wider groups.

The banks' LTLC IDRs, which are driven by shareholder support, have
been downgraded to 'B+' from 'BB-', one notch above their
respective LTFC IDRs, reflecting Fitch's view of a lower likelihood
of government intervention in lira.

The Negative Outlooks on the foreign-owned banks' LT IDRs mirror
those on the sovereign.

Senior debt ratings, where assigned, are aligned with the banks'
IDRs, reflecting average recovery prospects in case of default.

SUBORDINATED DEBT RATINGS

The subordinated notes' ratings of Garanti and Kuveyt Turk (issued
through its SPV KT21 T2 Sukuk) have been downgraded to 'B-' from
'B' following the downgrade of their LTFC IDR anchor ratings. The
notching for the subordinated notes include one notch for loss
severity and zero notches for non-performance risk (relative to
their anchor ratings).The one notch, rather than default two
notches, for loss severity reflects Fitch's view that institutional
support (as reflected in the banks' LTFC IDRs) helps mitigate
losses and incorporates the fact that the banks' LTFC IDRs are
already capped at 'B'.

The 'B-' subordinated notes' ratings of Akbank, Isbank, Vakifbank,
YKB and TSKB have been placed on RWN. This follows a change to a
LTFC IDR anchor rating of 'B' from a 'b+' VR anchor rating, since
Fitch considers this to be the most appropriate measure of
non-performance risk given government intervention risk. The RWN on
all five banks' subordinated notes' ratings reflect the RWN on
their VRs.

Fiba's subordinated notes' ratings have been affirmed at 'B-', one
notch below the bank's LTFC IDR, reflecting the bank's large buffer
of QJD, which reduces loss severity.

BANK SUBSIDIARIES

Ziraat Katilim Bankasi A.S. (Ziraat Katilim)

Akbank AG

The ratings of Ziraat Katilim and Akbank AG are equalised with
those of their respective parents, Ziraat and Akbank, reflecting
their strategic importance and role as core subsidiaries. The
banks' ratings have been downgraded to 'B' from 'B+', and the
Outlooks mirror those on their parents.

As a result, Akbank AG's Long-Term deposit rating has also been
downgraded to 'B' from 'B+'. Akbank AG's debt buffers do not afford
any obvious incremental probability of default benefit over and
above the support benefit factored into the bank's IDRs.

Ziraat Katilim's SSR has been downgraded to 'b' from 'b+'. Fitch
has also assigned a 'SSR' of 'b' to Akbank AG following the
withdrawal of its Support Rating.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

VRS

-- The RWNs on the banks' VRs signal a heightened probability of
    rating downgrades given exposure to Turkish operating risks.
    Fitch will resolve the RWNs on the VRs through analysis of the
    impact of heightened operating pressures on individual banks'
    credit profiles, including any erosion of capital buffers
    (including net of forbearance) and FC liquidity buffers, due
    to lira, asset quality or performance weakening, for example,
    or deterioration in funding profiles amid exposure to investor
    sentiment and high deposit dollarisation in volatile market
    conditions. Fitch expects to resolve the RWNs in the next six
    months.

LT IDRS, GSRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF STATE-OWNED COMMERCIAL,
DEVELOPMENT BANKS AND PARTICIPATION BANKS:

-- The banks' LT IDRs are sensitive to a sovereign downgrade and
    also to any increase in Fitch's view of government
    intervention risk in the banking sector.

-- The RWN on Halk's LTLC IDRs reflects uncertainty surrounding
    the sufficiency and timeliness of support from the Turkish
    authorities in case of the bank becoming subject to a fine or
    other punitive measure as a result of the US legal
    proceedings. The bank's GSR could be revised down if it does
    not receive sufficient and timely support to offset the impact
    of any such measure.

-- GSRs assigned to all state-owned Turkish banks could be
    revised lower if the reliability of support in FC for the
    banks from the Turkish authorities reduces further.

-- TKYB's GSR is equalised with the sovereign rating and is
    directly sensitive to a downgrade of Turkey's LTFC IDR. Its
    LTFC IDR could also be downgraded if the bank's proportion of
    non-guaranteed funding increases materially - particularly if
    Fitch believes this to be indicative of a weakening in TKYB's
    policy role - or if its balance-sheet size sharply increases
    relative to sovereign resources.

-- A sovereign downgrade is likely to trigger a similar rating
    action on Turk Eximbank, particularly if it reflected a
    further weakening in the sovereign's ability to provide
    support in FC. A material weakening in Turk Eximbank's policy
    role could also result in a downgrade of Turk Eximbank's LTFC
    IDR, although this is not Fitch's base case.

-- The banks' respective senior unsecured debt ratings, where
    relevant, are primarily sensitive to changes in their IDRs.

LT IDRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF PRIVATELY OWNED TURKISH BANKS:

-- The LTFC and LTLC IDRs of the privately owned Turkish banks
    are sensitive to a sovereign downgrade and also to any
    increase in Fitch's view of government intervention risk in
    the banking sector.

-- The RWNs on the LTLC IDRs of Akbank, Isbank, YKB, Anadolubank
    and ATB reflect the RWNs on their respective VRs.

-- Fiba's LTLC IDR is sensitive to a downgrade of its VR and also
    to a sustained reduction in its QJD buffer to below 10% of
    RWAs.

-- The banks' senior unsecured debt ratings, where relevant, are
    primarily sensitive to changes in their respective IDRs.

LT IDRS, SSRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF FOREIGN-OWNED BANKS:

-- A downgrade of Turkey's sovereign rating or an increase in our
    view of government intervention risk would likely lead to a
    downward revision of the foreign-owned banks' SSRs, leading to
    negative rating action on their LT IDRs.

-- The banks' SSRs are also sensitive to Fitch's view of their
    shareholders' ability and propensity to provide support.

-- The banks' senior unsecured debt ratings, where relevant, are
    primarily sensitive to changes in their respective IDRs.

SUBORDINATED DEBT RATINGS

The subordinated debt ratings of Garanti, and Kuveyt Turk are
primarily sensitive to changes in their LTFC IDR anchor ratings.

The RWN on the subordinated debt ratings of Akbank, Isbank,
Vakifbank, YKB and TSKB reflect the RWN on their VRs.

Fiba's subordinated debt rating is sensitive to a change in its VR
anchor rating and the size of its QJD buffer. A fall in this buffer
to below 10% of RWAs could result in a widening of the notching for
loss severity to two notches from the VR.

All banks' subordinated ratings are also sensitive to a change in
notching from the anchor ratings due to a revision in Fitch's
assessment of the probability of the notes' non-performance risk or
of loss severity in case of non-performance.

BANK SUBSIDIARIES

The ratings of Ziraat Katilim and Akbank AG are sensitive to
changes in their respective parent ratings or in their parents'
propensity to provide support.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

VRS

-- Banks' VRs could be removed from RWN in case of marked
    improvement in the operating environment, likely characterized
    by a reduction in macroeconomic and financial volatility, and
    potentially also a revision of the sovereign Outlook to
    Stable, particularly if this reduces risks to banks' capital
    and FC liquidity.

-- Banks' VRs could also be removed from RWN if Fitch deems
    banks' capital and FC liquidity buffers to be sufficient to
    allow them to remain solvent in a systemic stress scenario,
    including if legal restrictions are imposed on the servicing
    of FC obligations. However, this is unlikely given the high
    interconnectedness between the sovereign's and banks' credit
    profiles.

LT IDRS AND SENIOR DEBT RATINGS OF ALL BANKS:

-- Upgrades of banks' LT IDRs and senior debt ratings are
    unlikely in the near term given the Negative Outlooks and
    RWNs, the Negative Outlook on Turkey's rating and Fitch's view
    of government intervention risk in the banking sector.

-- Stabilisation of the sovereign Outlook would reduce downward
    pressure on bank ratings, particularly if accompanied by a
    reduction in Fitch's view of government intervention risk, and
    could lead to similar actions on bank ratings.

GSRS OF STATE-OWNED COMMERCIAL, DEVELOPMENT BANKS AND PARTICIPATION
BANKS:

-- Upward revision of the state-owned banks' GSRs is unlikely
    given the Negative Outlook on Turkey's sovereign rating and
    its weak ability to provide support in FC, as reflected in its
    low net FX reserves.

SSRS OF FOREIGN-OWNED BANKS:

-- Upgrades of banks' SSRs are unlikely in the near term given
    the Negative Outlook on the sovereign rating and Fitch's view
    of government intervention risk.

SUBORDINATED DEBT RATINGS:

-- Upgrades of the subordinated debt ratings of Akbank, Isbank,
    Vakifbank, YKB and TSKB are unlikely in the near term given
    the RWN.

OTHER DEBT AND ISSUER RATINGS: RATING SENSITIVITIES

SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES: RATING SENSITIVITIES

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and
Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario
(defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in
a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating
horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative
direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of
best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating
categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario
credit ratings are based on historical performance.

Criteria Variation

Fitch's view of potential intervention risk in the banking system
means Fitch views default risk of Turkish banks as higher than that
of the Turkey sovereign. As a result, Fitch has capped the LTFC
IDRs of the vast majority of Turkish banks at 'B', one notch below
Turkey's sovereign rating. As such, Fitch has varied its criteria
to permit a VR one notch above the bank's LTFC IDR where these are
not directly capped by Turkey's Country Ceiling of 'B+', but rather
Fitch's broader view of intervention risk.

SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL ADJUSTMENTS

An adjustment has been made in Fitch's financial spreadsheets of
Akbank, Anadolubank, Denizbank, Fiba, Garanti, QNB Finansbank, TSKB
and Turkiye Is Bankasi that has had an impact on their core and
complementary metrics. Fitch has taken a loan that was classified
as a financial asset measured at fair value through profit and loss
in the banks' financial statements and reclassified it under gross
loans as Fitch believes it most appropriate to reflect this
exposure.

PUBLIC RATINGS WITH CREDIT LINKAGE TO OTHER RATINGS

All banks included in this review have ratings linked to the
Turkish sovereign rating, given the ratings either rely on or are
sensitive to Fitch's assessment of sovereign support or country
risks. Turkish foreign-owned banks have ratings linked to their
respective parent banks' ratings.

Akbank AG's ratings are driven by support from Akbank T.A.S.

Ziraat Katilim's ratings are driven by support from Ziraat.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

The state-owned commercial banks - Ziraat, Vakifbank, Emlak
Katilim, VKB and Ziraat Katilim Bankasi - have ESG Relevance Scores
of '4' for Governance Structure and Management Strategy (in
contrast to a typical Relevance Score of '3' for comparable banks)
due to potential government influence over their boards'
effectiveness and management strategy in the challenging Turkish
operating environment. The latter has a negative impact on the
credit profile, and is relevant to the ratings in conjunction with
other factors.

Halk has an ESG Relevance Score of '5' for Governance Structure,
reflecting the elevated legal risk of a large fine, which drives
the RWN. It also considers potential government influence over the
board's effectiveness in the challenging Turkish operating
environment. Halk has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Management
Strategy (in contrast to a typical Relevance Score of '3' for
comparable banks), due to potential government influence over its
management strategy in the challenging Turkish operating
environment, which has a negative impact on the credit profile, and
is relevant to the ratings in conjunction with other factors.

In addition, the Islamic banks' (Emlak Katilim, VKB, Kuveyt Turk,
TFKB and Ziraat Katilim Bankasi) ESG Relevance Score of '4' for
Governance Structure reflects their Islamic banking nature (in
contrast to a typical ESG Relevance Score of '3' for comparable
conventional banks). These banks' operations and activities need to
comply with sharia principles and rules, which entails additional
costs, processes, disclosures, regulations, reporting and sharia
audit. This has a negative impact on their credit profiles and is
relevant to the ratings in conjunction with other factors.

The Islamic banks also have an ESG Relevance Score of '3' for
Exposure to Social Impacts (in contrast to a typical ESG Relevance
Score of '2' for comparable conventional banks), which reflects
that Islamic banks have certain sharia limitations embedded in
their operations and obligations, although this only has a minimal
credit impact on Islamic banks.

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. ESG issues are credit
neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either
due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by
the entity.




=============
U K R A I N E
=============

BANK ALLIANCE: S&P Lowers ICR to 'CCC/C', On Watch Developing
-------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings lowered its long- and short-term issuer credit
ratings on Bank Alliance JSC to 'CCC/C' from 'B-/B'. S&P also
lowered its national scale rating on Bank Alliance to 'uaCCC+' from
'uaBBB-'. S&P subsequently placed all ratings on CreditWatch with
developing implications.

Russia's military operation against Ukraine has added significant
downside risks to the economic outlook and the stability of
Ukrainian financial system. S&P believes this puts commercial
banks' ability to honor their obligations in full and on time at
risk. In S&P's view, Bank Alliance could default without the
cessation of the military conflict.

The CreditWatch developing reflects high uncertainty regarding how
the military conflict will evolve and its impact on Bank Alliance's
creditworthiness.

S&P said, "We expect to resolve the CreditWatch placement shortly.
We could lower the ratings to 'SD' (selective default) or 'D'
(default) if Bank Alliance stops honoring its obligations in full
and on time. A positive rating action will depend on the
stabilization of the economic and geopolitical situation in
Ukraine."


[*] UKRAINE: Heads of 8 EU Nations Call for Membership Talks
------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Charlish and Andrius Sytas at Reuters report that the
presidents of eight central and eastern European nations on Feb. 28
called on European Union member states to immediately grant Ukraine
a EU candidate country status and open membership talks, according
to an open letter published on Monday.

"We, the Presidents of the EU member states: the Republic of
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic
of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, the
Slovak Republic, and the Republic of Slovenia strongly believe that
Ukraine deserves receiving an immediate EU accession perspective,"
Reuters quotes the letter as saying.




===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================

DAWNFRESH HOLDINGS: Enters Administration, Arbroath Facility Sold
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Reid at The Scotsman reports that administrators have been
appointed to Dawnfresh Holdings, Dawnfresh Seafoods and R R Spink &
Sons (Arbroath).

Founded in 1973, and headquartered in Uddingston, near Glasgow, the
business operates seven fish farms across Scotland and Northern
Ireland, with production and processing facilities in both
Uddingston and Arbroath.

Administrators from FRP Advisory noted that despite best efforts to
affect a turnaround, the business has continued to suffer from
rising costs, overcapacity at the Uddingston site and
"unsustainable" cash flow problems, The Scotsman relates.

According to The Scotsman, following a short marketing exercise to
find a buyer, the joint administrators have secured a sale of the
Arbroath facility to Lossie Seafoods, a subsidiary of Associated
Seafoods, in a deal that includes the transfer of all 249 staff to
the new owner.

The subsidiary business Dawnfresh Farming will continue trading
solvently, The Scotsman notes.

However, the "heavily loss-making" Uddingston facility will close
with immediate effect, resulting in 200 redundancies, with 77 staff
being retained to assist the administrators with the winding up
process, The Scotsman states.

"Dawnfresh is a high profile and highly regarded seafood business
with a long tradition of supplying innovative products to a
blue-chip customer base," The Scotsman quotes Callum Carmichael, a
partner with FRP, as saying.

"Unfortunately, the business has been unable to overcome very
serious financial problems at the Uddingston facility, but we are
pleased to have secured a prompt sale of the Arbroath facility in a
deal that will also preserve substantial employment in the town.
Our focus is now on finding a buyer for the farming business."


DERBY COUNTY FOOTBALL: EFL Seeks Urgent Update on Funding
---------------------------------------------------------
Charlie Walker, writing for MailOnline, reports that the EFL has
insisted on an urgent update from Derby County Football Club's
administrators with evidence of adequate funding for the club to
complete the season.

The Football League has also demanded further information on the
appointment of a preferred bidder, which is widely expected this
week, MailOnline relates.

"On January 27, the EFL and Derby County's Administrators,
Quantuma, announced a four-week extension to the deadline for the
provision of evidence of sufficient funding to complete the current
season," MailOnline quotes the EFL statement as saying on Feb. 28.

"The Administrators have not yet provided that evidence, and we
await an urgent further update from them on both that and the
announcement of a preferred bidder."

Derby County FC has been in administration for five months,
MailOnline notes.

On January 27, Derby was given a four-week stay of execution after
the EFL agreed to extend the deadline for the club's administrators
to show there were sufficient funds to complete the season,
MailOnline recounts.

According to MailOnline, the EFL and Quantuma said the stay of
execution would allow Derby to continue discussions with interested
parties and provide "additional time to seek clarity on the claims
from Middlesbrough and Wycombe", which had filed compensation
claims.

The dispute between Middlesbrough and Derby, which was the most
pressing issue, was subsequently addressed, when the Rams' former
owner, Mel Morris, and Boro's chairman, Steve Gibson, held talks,
MailOnline relays.

With the Middlesbrough conflict addressed, the way was cleared for
Quantuma to appoint a preferred bidder, who could then enter into
detailed discussions with creditors and begin the process of
bringing Derby out of administration, MailOnline states.

However, events have proceeded more slowly than many expected,
MailOnline notes.

According to MailOnline, Sportsmail understands that steps taken in
January, which include the sale of players and additional borrowing
mean there is not an immediate crisis in funding. However, it may
that a buyer will need to be in place to fully fund the season.

Quantuma had been expected to unveil a preferred bidder at the end
of last week, but no announcement was forthcoming, MailOnline
notes.  It is believed the administrators required further
clarification on details of the bids, according to MailOnline.

The EFL's rules require a buyer to pay full creditors -- other
clubs -- in full with other creditors receiving 25 pence in the
pound, MailOnline states.

The Sun has claimed that the size of the offers from bidders are
insufficient to pay 25 pence in the pound to those creditors,
MailOnline relays.

If that threshold is not met, the EFL can impose a further 15-point
deduction next season, whether Derby are in the Championship or
League One.  Bidders may want to test the EFL's resolve on this
point, according to MailOnline.

US brothers Adam and Colin Binnie, a consortium led by former Rams
chairman Andy Appleby and ex-Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley
have all expressed interest in the Rams, MailOnline discloses.

Any takeover is complex since the club has debts of around GBP60
million and the Pride Park Stadium is still in the possession of
former owner, Mel Morris, MailOnline states.  In addition, GBP28
million is owed to HMRC, which is considered a preferential
creditor and would be expected to receive more than 25 per cent of
what it is owed, according to MailOnline.

               About Derby County Football Club

Founded in 1884, Derby County Football Club is a professional
association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England.  The
club competes in the English Football League Championship  (EFL,
the 'Championship'), the second tier of English football.  The team
gets its nickname, The Rams, to show tribute to its links with the
First Regiment of Derby Militia, which took a ram as its mascot.
Mel Morris is the owner while Wayne Rooney is the manager of the
club.  

On Sept. 22, 2021, the club went into administration.  The EFL
sanctioned a 12-point deduction on the club, putting the team at
the bottom of the Championship.  Andrew Hosking, Carl Jackson and
Andrew Andronikou, managing directors at business advisory firm
Quantuma, had been appointed joint administrators to the club.


IWH UK FINCO: Fitch Affirms 'B' LongTerm IDR, Outlook Stable
------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has affirmed IWH UK Finco Limited's (Theramex)
Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B' with a Stable
Outlook.

Theramex's 'B' rating reflects the mid-cap nature of its branded
pharmaceutical business, with a fairly narrow but targeted product
portfolio. The group operates an asset-light business model,
focusing on the lifecycle management of mostly off-patent women's
health drugs, with solid sales and marketing capabilities.

The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that, following the
disruption caused by the pandemic, Theramex has returned to growth
for its key strategic drugs, leading to solid free cash flow (FCF)
generation as the basis for Fitch's assumed gradual deleveraging
path ahead of its debt maturities in 2024. Fitch's rating assumes a
very disciplined and targeted approach to M&A ahead of
refinancing.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Strong Post Pandemic Recovery, Focus on Growth Markets: The rating
and Stable Outlook reflect Theramex's strong recovery from a
better-than-expected operating floor during the pandemic, as
fertility clinics are again fully operational. Other key treatment
areas benefitted strongly from medical awareness campaigns. The
growth in key products has also been supported by selective
investments in marketing and improved focus on key growth markets,
such as Brazil, contributing strongly to volumes.

Stabilising Profitability, Cash Conversion: Fitch's rating case
assumes that profitability will stabilise at around a 30% EBITDA
margin, leading to a strong cash conversion with FCF margins of
15%-20% in Fitch's rating case to 2024. This is aided by the
removal of earlier exceptional costs associated with the demerger
process and reducing investment requirements in the business.

Pandemic Leverage Spike Temporary, Rating Headroom Improving: Fitch
views the 2020 FFO leverage spike of just above 7x as temporary and
driven by the business disruption during the pandemic. Fitch
already assumes that financial leverage will normalise back to
5x-5.5x in 2021-2022, supported by the current positive
like-for-like growth dynamics of key drugs and Fitch's assumption
of a disciplined approach to M&A.

Refinancing Risk Manageable: Fitch's rating case projections also
reflect the refinancing risk approaching in 2024 and the possible
strategic and financial uncertainties this could entail. Fitch
currently assumes gradually improving rating headroom ahead of this
refinancing event.

Mature Profitable Product Portfolio: Theramex's ratings reflect the
benefits of a portfolio of mature and profitable brands that is
supported by an established base of prescribers and customers, and
facilitated by a dedicated sales force. Fitch estimates that the
mature product portfolio, covering osteoporosis, menopause and
contraception solutions, contributes 80%-90% to Theramex's sales.
The stability of the core products' earnings is evident in overall
steady gross margins and EBITDA, despite the volume and price
volatility of individual brands.

Growth Products Key for Ratings: Fitch views the contribution from
growth products as a material support of the 'B' IDR. Proprietary
new-generation drugs complement Theramex's product base, and Fitch
projects patent-protected income streams to continue contributing
the remaining 10%-20% to its sales. Delays in introducing new
products in target markets, price/volume erosion arising from
competing products, or inefficient sales and marketing initiatives
will affect Theramex's earnings and cash flow, and may put ratings
under pressure.

Focus on Women's Health: Fitch regards Theramex's clear strategic
niche focus on women's health as positive for the group's business
risk profile, although Fitch does not view it as being immune to
generic competition. Its product portfolio faces volume and price
challenges in a fragmented and competitive women's health market
from global pharmaceutical companies to mid- and small-cap local
market constituents.

Scale Constrains Ratings: The IDR of Theramex is constrained by its
mid-cap scale in the 'B' rating category in the medium to long
term. Nevertheless, Fitch expects the group to implement its growth
strategy both organically and through complementary product or
license acquisitions. Fitch does not project any material change in
the scale of Theramex's current product portfolio over Fitch's
four-year rating horizon to 2024.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

Fitch considers Theramex in the framework of the Ratings Navigator
for pharmaceutical companies, despite consumer-like behaviour of
its branded products, where demand is generated through a
pull-marketing strategy at the level of drug prescribers.

Theramex is considerably smaller than Nidda BondCo GmbH (Stada;
B/Stable) and Financiere Top Mendel SAS (Ceva; B/Stable), with a
fairly concentrated product and country exposure; however, Stada
and Ceva are materially more leveraged than Theramex. Theramex's
profitability and cash flow margins are high in the context of the
pharmaceuticals sector risk profile, although in line with other
mid-cap asset-light pharma peers. Fitch attributes such strong
margins to Theramex's selected in-house competences, which avoid
costly product innovations and investment in capital-intensive
commoditised manufacturing processes.

Theramex's financial risk profile with an FFO leverage of around
5.5x is well placed for a 'B' IDR. CHEPLAPHARM Arzneimittel GmbH
(B+/Stable) is larger than Theramex, with a more established sales
platform of off-patent drugs and a similar financial profile to
Theramex. In contrast, Pharmanovia Bidco Limited (B+/Stable) has a
similar size to Theramex, but benefits from stronger operating
profitability, higher FCF margin and lower FFO leverage of 5.0x
(Theramex: 5.5x), warranting the one-notch rating differential
between the two companies.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

-- Revenue growth of 16.5% in 2021 and 12.8% in 2022, in general
    supported by the return to pre-pandemic behaviour by patients
    and doctors, as well as by investment in diversifying the
    company's geographical footprint. The high growth in the
    fertility segment is driven by the reopening of clinics at
    full capacity and the launch of clinics in Australia. The
    strong growth in the menopause segment is driven by new
    product launches and the positive impact of awareness
    movements in the UK and France. Growth in the osteoporosis
    sector is driven by a recent new product launch and Actonel GR
    supported by the world evidence data.

-- The EBITDA margin is expected to decline to around 30% from
    2022 as some of the growth markets have lower margins and some
    lower margin products are increasing their share in total
    revenues. Higher operating expenses are driven by investments
    in new product launches and geographical expansions, and by
    sales and marketing activities returning to pre-pandemic
    levels.

-- Higher working capital outflow in 2022, driven by higher
    inventory levels, to support the growth of the business.

-- Capex to return to pre-pandemic levels.

-- EUR4 million of acquisitions per year.

KEY RECOVERY RATING ASSUMPTIONS

The recovery analysis assumes that Theramex would be reorganised as
a going-concern in bankruptcy rather than liquidated. Fitch has
assumed a 10% administrative claim.

Theramex's going-concern EBITDA is based on projected 2021 EBITDA
to reflect recovery from the impact of the pandemic. It reflects
Fitch's view of a sustainable, post-reorganisation EBITDA level,
upon which Fitch bases the enterprise valuation.

Fitch estimates a post-restructuring EBITDA of around EUR57
million, implying a discount of 34% from Fitch's estimated 2021
EBITDA, at which level Theramex would remain cash-generative;
however, the credit would be under pressure given an unsustainable
capital structure with FFO leverage rising above 8.4x.

An enterprise value (EV)/EBITDA multiple of 5.5x is used to
calculate a post-reorganisation valuation.

Fitch assumed the revolving credit facility (RCF) to be fully drawn
upon default. The RCF ranks pari passu with the Term Loan B in the
debt waterfall.

The allocation of value in the liability waterfall results in an
output percentage based on current metrics and assumptions of 54%,
corresponding to an RR3 for the first lien RCF and term loan
(together EUR525 million), and a debt instrument rating of 'B+',
one notch above the IDR.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- Increase in scale with a concurrent sustained expansion of
    EBITDA and margins;

-- FCF increasing towards EUR50 million a year;

-- FFO gross leverage or total debt/operating EBITDA below 5.0x
    on a sustained basis.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- Declining sales and EBITDA, with margins falling below 30%;

-- Declining FCF in combination with larger scale, debt-funded
    M&A;

-- FFO leverage or total debt/operating EBITDA above 6.5x on a
    sustained basis.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Non-Financial Corporate
issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive
direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a
worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th
percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction)
of four notches over three years. The complete span of best- and
worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges
from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are
based on historical performance.

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Comfortable Liquidity: Fitch views Theramex's liquidity as
comfortable, supported by full availability under its EUR55 million
RCF and EUR94 million cash on balance sheet at end-2021. The
liquidity position is further strengthened by strong FCF
generation, low capex needs and lack of working capital
seasonality.

The RCF and TLB mature in 2024, which poses increasing refinancing
risk; however, this is balanced by Fitch's expectation that FFO
leverage will decline to 5.0x by 2023, one year before the
maturities.

ESG Considerations:

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.

ISSUER PROFILE

Theramex markets a portfolio of branded women's health
medications.


IWH UK FINCO: S&P Affirms 'B' ICR & Alters Outlook to Stable
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook to stable from negative and
affirmed its  'B' long-term rating on IWH UK Finco Ltd. (Theramex).
At the same time, S&P affirmed its 'B' issue credit rating on the
senior secured debt with a recovery rating of '3' and improved
recovery prospects of 55% from 50% previously.

The stable outlook reflects S&P's view that Theramex should
continue posting solid growth and maintain a strong product
pipeline, which will likely improve its S&P Global Ratings-adjusted
debt to EBITDA below 6x and ensure robust free operating cash flow
(FOCF) generation of about EUR50 million–EUR60 million over the
next 12 months.

The outlook revision follows Theramex's strong topline growth over
2021 and healthy recovery from full-year 2020 results, which were
harmed by the pandemic and related lockdown restrictions.
Theramex's sales volumes increased by 16.5% to EUR270.2 million in
2021, mainly thanks to the good performance of the menopause and
osteoporosis segments. All business lines have reported growth of
about 15%-40%, with the exception of oral contraception, which only
grew by 3.6%. As a result, profitability has also recovered, with
reported EBITDA up by 27.9% at EUR86.7 million in 2021. The
company's efficient cost management has also contributed positively
to EBITDA generation. Overall, the company is experiencing positive
operating trends across all business segments due to the recovery
of the market following the peak of the pandemic, increased
awareness and discussion among women about menopause and
osteoporosis symptoms and treatments, and the successful
introduction of new products in the market.

Value-accretive product launches and lean cost management will
continue to drive EBITDA. Theramex has recently expanded its
product offering in osteoporosis, menopause, and fertility
treatments. S&P said, "We think new offerings will be key drivers
for the development of the business. Despite contributing for only
about 4% of revenue as of 2021, these products--Femarelle,
Livogiva, and Bijuva, among others--will most likely make up about
15%-20% of revenue from 2024. We expect Theramex's product pipeline
to continue expanding as the company identifies new growth
opportunities within women's health care. We also expect efficient
cost management to support good profitability, since the company
has relative cost-flexibility with low fixed costs and is able to
quickly adjust its cost base throughout the cycle. We expect price
increases, where possible, will partly mitigate inflationary
pressures in input costs."

S&P said, "We think Theramex's focus on new products and improved
profitability will enable it to further reduce adjusted debt to
EBITDA to 5x-6x and generate FOCF of about EUR50 million-EUR60
million in the next 12 months. We forecast strong organic revenue
and EBITDA growth will result in further debt reduction over 2022
and 2023. We also expect healthy FOCF generation and low capital
expenditure (capex) needs due to the asset light business model
will enable the company to partly self-fund external growth in the
future. We note the company's commitment to a conservative mergers
and acquisitions policy and focus on consolidating the existing
portfolio. Our forecasts assume debt levels will remain broadly
stable.

"The stable outlook reflects our view that Theramex will maintain
strong operating performance and a solid product pipeline, which
will likely improve the group's credit metrics over the next 12
months, with adjusted debt to EBITDA sustainably below 6x and an
adjusted EBIDTA margin close to 30%.

"We could lower the rating if the company's adjusted debt to EBITDA
rose above 7.0x on a sustained basis, while FOCF generation were
much lower than anticipated. For example, this could stem from
significant operational problems such as the unsuccessful launch of
new products or the decline in sales of base products that would
compromise topline growth, while the company also faced
difficulties in managing costs.

"We could upgrade Theramex if the company outperformed our base
case such that adjusted debt to EBITDA fell below 5x on a sustained
basis. In this case, the company would have to commit to maintain
debt to EBITDA below 5x."

Under this scenario, Theramex should be able to maintain a track
record of operating successfully and above our base case, while
generating solid FOCF.

ESG credit indicators: E-2, S-2, G-3

S&P said, "Governance factors are a moderately negative
consideration in our rating analysis of Theramex, as is the case
for most rated entities owned by private-equity sponsors. We think
the company's highly leveraged financial risk profile points to
corporate decision-making that prioritizes the interests of the
controlling owners. This also reflects the generally finite holding
periods and a focus on maximizing shareholder returns."

NMC HEALTHCARE: Expects to Exit Administration in Mid-March
-----------------------------------------------------------
Waheed Abbas at Khaleej Times reports that NMC Healthcare is
expected to come out of the administration in the middle of March
as a new board has been appointed, a senior official said on Feb.
28.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of home dialysis service in
Dubai on Feb. 28, Michael Davis, chief executive of NMC Healthcare,
said the company is also open for acquisitions that can support its
growth strategy but clarified there is nothing on the table now,
Khaleej Times relates.

"Not this year but in the future as we move towards new ownership
and we have a new board of directors . . . We are talking about the
middle of March (that) we are coming out of the administration.  A
new board has been appointed but not yet installed. There will be
more announcements later that I can't disclose now," Khaleej Times
quotes Mr. Davis as saying.

"These are very important times for NMC Healthcare and we are
really excited about what the next one year to 18 months holds for
us," Mr. Davis said on the sidelines of the press conference on
Feb. 28.

In November 2021, the healthcare services provider had said it
expected to exit administration and be taken over by its creditors
before the end of 2021 under an agreed restructuring, Khaleej Times
recounts.

It ran into trouble in 2021 after more than US$4 billion in hidden
debt left many local and foreign banks with heavy losses and its
UAE operating businesses were placed into administration in the
courts of Abu Dhabi's international financial centre Abu Dhabi
Global Markets (ADGM), Khaleej Times discloses.

In September, its creditors, who owed a total of US$7.1 billion,
approved a restructuring of the company which would give them the
ownership of 34 NMC group companies and allow them to exist
administration in Abu Dhabi, Khaleej Times relays.

The company's third-quarter revenue rose to US$915 million from
US$816 million a year ago, Khaleej Times notes.

Mr. Davis added that 202-21 results were the best since the
company's inception and it provided services to about 8.5 million
patients last year in UAE, Khaleej Times states.


OAKHAM: Enters Administration, Halts Issuance of New Loans
----------------------------------------------------------
Credit Strategy reports that Andrew Tate and James Hopkirk of
Kreston Reeves have been appointed joint administrators of
high-cost lender Oakham as the firm enters into administration.

According to regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), all
existing loans will remain in place and consumers will still have
access to their accounts during the administration, but the
business is no longer able to issue new loans, Credit Strategy
discloses.

The FCA says it's in close contact with the firm and the
administrators regarding fair treatment of customers, Credit
Strategy relates.


SME BROKER: Enters Liquidation, Owes Creditors More Than GBP200K
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Greenway at Worcester News reports that a former Worcester
company closed owing more than GBP200,000.

Diglis-based SME Broker Services International went into
administration in January with managing director Alex Nicholls
setting up a new phoenix company SME Broker Services, Worcester
News relates.

According to Worcester News, companies House, the government's
registrar of businesses, is showing the firm's status as
liquidation, with documents published as part of a "statement of
affairs".

Among the documents is a list of the companies creditors which
reveal the firm owed a total of GBP220,954 to 16 different
creditors, Worcester News notes.

The highest amount of money owed is GBP100,000 to HMRC, with a
total of GBP44,654.51 owed to Lloyds Bank, GBP35,664 owed to
Nationwide Building Society and GBP15,000 to Nationwide Corporate
Finance, Worcester News discloses.

Industrial and Tractor Limited in Navigation Road, Diglis, was owed
GBP3,400, The Tything-based MFG Solicitors was owed GBP6,000 while
Berence, a firm based in Newton Aycliffe near Middlesbrough, was
owed GBP12,051, Worcester News states.

Others out of pocket include Penguin Office Supplies, owed GBP200,
Selectabase in Dover which is owed GBP475, and Manchester firm C&L
Safety which is owed GBP180, Worcester News relays.

According to Worcester News, Alex Nicholls, the managing director,
in a previous statement said: "Unfortunately, SME Broker Services
International Ltd faced financial troubles in December 2021 due to
Covid as well as the energy crisis - energy companies make up a
large proportion of our clientele, as shown on our website.

"Every staff member but one have been offered a new position at a
new phoenix SME Broker Services entity.

"This is backed by an investor, meaning around 20 jobs have been
saved.  This is similar to what we did in January 2019."


ST. PAUL'S IX: S&P Assigns Prelim. B- Rating on Class E Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned preliminary credit ratings to St.
Paul's CLO IX DAC's class A-1, A-2, B, C, D, E, and F notes. At
closing, the issuer will have EUR37.00 million of unrated
subordinated notes outstanding from the existing transaction

Under the transaction documents, the rated notes pay quarterly
interest unless a frequency switch event occurs. Following this,
the notes will switch to semiannual payments. The portfolio's
reinvestment period will end approximately four and half years
after closing.

Under the transaction documents, the manager may purchase loss
mitigation obligations in connection with the default of an
existing asset with the aim of enhancing the global recovery on
that obligor. The manager may also exchange defaulted obligations
for other defaulted obligations from a different obligor with a
better likelihood of recovery.

S&P said, "We have performed our analysis on the expected effective
date portfolio provided to us by the manager. We consider that the
effective date portfolio will be well-diversified, primarily
comprising broadly syndicated speculative-grade senior secured term
loans. Therefore, we have conducted our credit and cash flow
analysis by applying our criteria for corporate cash flow CDOs."

  Portfolio Benchmarks

  S&P Global Ratings weighted-average rating factor      2,839.29
  Default rate dispersion                                  607.18
  Weighted-average life (years)                              4.68
  Obligor diversity measure                                118.43
  Industry diversity measure                                22.49
  Regional diversity measure                                 1.25
  Weighted-average rating                                       B
  'CCC' category rated assets (%)                            4.25
  'AAA' weighted-average recovery rate                      35.40
  Floating-rate assets (%)                                  86.39
  Weighted-average spread (net of floors; %)                 3.85

S&P said, "In our cash flow analysis, we used the EUR400 million
target par amount, a weighted-average spread of 3.84%, the
reference weighted-average coupon covenant 4.50%, and the
weighted-average recovery rates as indicated by the portfolio
manager. We applied various cash flow stress scenarios, using four
different default patterns, in conjunction with different interest
rate stress scenarios for each liability rating category.

"Our credit and cash flow analysis indicates that the available
credit enhancement for the class B, C, and D notes could withstand
stresses commensurate with higher ratings than those we have
assigned. However, the CLO benefits from a reinvestment period
until Oct. 20, 2026, during which the transaction's credit risk
profile could deteriorate, subject to CDO monitor results. We have
therefore capped our preliminary ratings assigned to the notes.

"Our credit and cash flow analysis show that the class F notes
present a break-even default rate-scenario default rate (BDR-SDR)
cushion that we would typically consider to be in line with a lower
rating than 'B- (sf)'. In line with our 'CCC' rating criteria, we
have assessed (i) whether the tranche is vulnerable to nonpayments
in the near future, (ii) if there is a one-in-two chance for this
note to default, and (iii) if we envision this tranche to default
in the next 12-18 months." Following the application of its 'CCC'
rating criteria and the consideration of the factors below, it has
assigned a preliminary 'B- (sf)' rating to the class F notes:

-- The class F notes benefit from credit enhancement of 6.50%,
which is in the same range as other recently issued European CLOs
that S&P has rated.

-- The portfolio's average credit quality is similar to other
recent European CLOs that S&P has rated.

-- S&P's model generated a BDR at the 'B-' rating level of 24.28%,
which exceeds an expected default rate of 14.51% if it considers a
historical long-term default rate of 3.1% and a weighted-average
life of 4.68 years.

-- The actual portfolio is generating higher spreads and
recoveries than what S&P has modeled in its cash flow analysis.

Citibank N.A., London Branch is the bank account provider and
custodian. At closing, S&P expects that the account bank and
custodian's documented replacement provisions will be in line with
our counterparty criteria for liabilities rated up to 'AAA'.

S&P said, "Under our structured finance sovereign risk criteria, we
consider that the transaction's exposure to country risk is
sufficiently mitigated at the assigned preliminary ratings.

"At closing, we expect the issuer to be bankruptcy remote, in
accordance with our legal criteria (see "Structured Finance: Asset
Isolation And Special-Purpose Entity Methodology," published on
March 29, 2017).

"The CLO is managed by Intermediate Capital Managers Ltd. Under our
"Global Framework For Assessing Operational Risk In Structured
Finance Transactions," published on Oct. 9, 2014, the maximum
potential rating on the liabilities is 'AAA'.

"In addition to our standard analysis, to provide an indication of
how rising pressures among speculative-grade corporates could
affect our ratings on European CLO transactions, we have also
included the sensitivity of the preliminary ratings on the class
A-1 to E notes to five of the 10 hypothetical scenarios we looked
at in our publication "How Credit Distress Due To COVID-19 Could
Affect European CLO Ratings," published on April 2, 2020.

"As our ratings analysis makes additional considerations before
assigning ratings in the 'CCC' category, and we would assign a 'B-'
rating if the criteria for assigning a 'CCC' category rating are
not met, we have not included the above scenario analysis results
for the class F notes."

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors

S&P said, "We regard the exposure to ESG credit factors in the
transaction as being broadly in line with our benchmark for the
sector. Primarily due to the diversity of the assets within CLOs,
the exposure to environmental credit factors is viewed as below
average, social credit factors are below average, and governance
credit factors are average. For this transaction, the documents
prohibit assets from being related to the following industries
(non-exhaustive list): manufacture or marketing of anti-personnel
mines, cluster weapons, depleted uranium, nuclear weapons, white
phosphorus, biological, chemical weapons, civilian firearms,
products that contain tobacco, thermal coal, unconventional oil and
gas extraction, payday lending, manufacture or trade in
pornographic materials, and trade of illegal drugs or narcotics.
Accordingly, since the exclusion of assets from these industries
does not result in material differences between the transaction and
our ESG benchmark for the sector, no specific adjustments have been
made in our rating analysis to account for any ESG-related risks or
opportunities."

  Ratings List

  CLASS     PRELIM.     PRELIM.     INTEREST RATE    SUB (%)
            RATING      AMOUNT
                      (MIL. EUR)
  A-1       AAA (sf)     215.00      3mE + 0.94%     38.00

  A-2       AAA (sf)      33.00      3mE + 1.32%*    38.00

  B         AA (sf)       41.00      3mE + 1.80%     27.75

  C         A (sf)        24.00      3mE + 3.00%     21.75

  D         BBB- (sf)     29.00      3mE + 4.00%     14.50

  E         BB- (sf)      19.20      3mE + 7.15%      9.70

  F         B- (sf)       12.80      3mE + 9.93%      6.50

  Z         NR             1.00      N/A               N/A

  Sub notes NR   37.00      N/A               N/A

*EURIBOR capped at 2.50%.
EURIBOR--Euro Interbank Offered Rate.
3mE—Three-month EURIBOR.
NR--Not rated.
N/A--Not applicable.


WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE: Placed Into Administration
------------------------------------------------
Karen Darley at Gazette & Herald reports that Welcome to Yorkshire
(WtY) has been placed into administration.

A statement has just been issued by Peter Box CBE, Chair of WtY,
Gazette & Herald relates.

According to Gazette & Herald, he said: "It was with deep regret
that the Board of Welcome to Yorkshire (WtY) took the decision to
place the organisation into administration.

"The past three years have been incredibly difficult for Board
members and staff as we have endeavoured to deal with
well-publicised legacy issues.

"These matters, coupled with the impact of Covid and the task of
securing sufficient funding from the public and private sectors to
place WtY on a sound financial footing, have made the situation
increasingly challenging.

"The de Bois review of Destination Management Organisations could
have created the opportunity for WtY to be given the structure and
long-term funding required to move on, grow and develop into the
organisation we believe it should be on behalf of Yorkshire and its
people.

"Sadly, the decision of the Yorkshire Leaders not to commit to a
multi-year funding package, whilst understandable, removed that
pathway and means that WtY cannot continue in its present form."

"Rob Adamson, Michael Kienlen -- mike.kienlen@armstrongwatson.co.uk
-- and Daryl Warwick -- daryl.warwick@armstrongwatson.co.uk -- of
Armstrong Watson LLP have been appointed as Joint Administrators of
Welcome to Yorkshire on March 1, 2022.

"The Joint Administrators intend to trade the Company for a period
of time whilst they finalise a strategy to secure the best possible
result for the creditors of the Company."

All queries should be directed via email to
WelcometoYorkshire@armstrongwatson.co.uk



                           *********


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA.
Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante,
Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman,
Editors.

Copyright 2022.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

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