Greater checks are being made on lessors by
ratings agencies in a drive to ensure the value of both their own
companies and their securitised portfolios are not
overestimated.

The clampdown, which forms part of a wider
review of financial services by the agencies, means lessors will
have to reveal more about themselves before they can get a positive
rating.

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In the most dramatic move, Fitch has just
issued new and onerous criteria – focusing on lessors’ asset
quality, profitability, funding, capitalisation and ownership – to
determine the true value of leasing companies.

Also, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch and Moody’s
are reviewing more leasing companies and lease securitisations than
ever before. Furthermore, after tightening their criteria, lessors
and lease asset-backed security (ABS) deals are increasingly
receiving poorer ratings.

A January report of Moody’s on the banking
sector of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary said that in
the leasing sector, the worsening quality of borrowers was being
affected by tightening refinancing opportunities.

Similarly, it said that the performance of
Italy’s leasing ABS market continued to deteriorate in November
2009, with a net default index up by almost 50 percent compared
with the previous 12 months.

In December, Moody’s also reviewed a number of
Spanish leasing ABS deals for possible downgrade – totalling
approximately €3.8 billion and involving BBVA Leasing, Bankiter
Leasing and Grupo Banco Popular Leasing.

Antonio Fabrizio