Sector developments and company hires

Regional bank CLNs on watch amid SVB fallout
KBRA has placed on watch developing 78 ratings from three CLN transactions issued by Western Alliance Bank (WAB) and one issued by Pacific Western Bank (PWB), following the rating agency’s placement of each institution’s senior unsecured rating on watch developing. The move comes amid a period of stress for WAB and PWB, as well as other similarly-situated regional banks, including high levels of deposit withdrawals in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures (SCI 13 March).

The affected transactions are WAL 2021-CL2, PWB 2022-1, WAL 2022-CL1, WAL 2022-CL2 and WAL 2022-CL4. The issuers’ obligations in WAL 2021-CL2 and PWB 2022-1 are unsecured and are based on the lower of the underlying credit quality of the reference asset and the unsecured debt rating of the applicable issuer. KBRA notes that ratings downgrades of the respective issuers will therefore result in rating changes to the respective transactions.

However, the remaining transactions are secured by a cash collateral account sufficient to repay the issued notes, as well as a line of credit expected to cover interest due during any potential FDIC conservatorship or receivership action. The latter mechanisms - which are still subject to broad FDIC discretionary powers - will be considered in determining any future rating action, according to KBRA.

The offered notes in all of the transactions are general obligations of WAB and PWB, which have senior unsecured ratings of single-A and single-A minus respectively. KBRA says it will monitor ongoing developments and expects to resolve or update the watch placements within 90 days.

In other news…

MAPFRE consolidates private debt assets 
The asset management arm of Madrid-headquartered insurance business MAPFRE has launched a new fund to house all private credit investments made by its subsidiaries. The firm says the move will enable it to diversify its portfolio, adding that it intends to have exposure to 15 fund managers primarily based in Europe and with euro-denominated vehicles.

Including future private credit investments, the size of the fund will not exceed €350m. Since it first began investing in alternative assets in 2018, MAPFRE has made commitments of €1.35bn to strategies spanning real estate, private equity, private debt and renewables.