Standard & Poor’s yesterday (Wednesday) downgraded six multi-cédulas but upgraded three AyT Cédulas Cajas issues, with the positive actions coming after S&P assigned ratings to several of the cédulas underlying them.

The three transactions that were upgraded were AyT Cédulas Cajas IV, from AA- to AA, AyT Cédulas Cajas V classes A and B, from A- to A+, and AyT Cédulas Cajas VI classes A and B, from A- to AA-. All the transactions in yesterday’s rating actions carry S&P’s (sf) rating modifier.

The rating agency said that over the past six months it has assigned new ratings to cédulas hipotecarias of several of the underlying issuers. It has therefore used these, rather than credit estimates or issuer credit ratings (ICRs) in its analysis of the transactions, as it previously did in the absence of cédulas ratings.

“Since our ratings on the cédulas hipotecarias are typically higher than ICRs or credit estimates, the effect for these transactions has been positive,” said S&P.

However, six transactions were downgraded, with the rating agency saying that its actions mainly reflect an increase in credit risk witnessed in the multi-cédulas driven by rating actions or credit estimate revisions on the Spanish financial institutions that issue the underlying cédulas.

The transactions downgraded were: AyT Cédulas Cajas VIII classes A and B, from AA to AA-; AyT Cédulas Cajas X class A, from BBB to BBB-, and class B, from BBB+ to BBB; Cédulas TDA 2, from AA- to A-; Cédulas TDA 5, from AA to A; Cédulas TDA 6, from A+ to A-; and Programa Independiente de Titulizacion de Cédulas Hipotecarias (PITCH), from AA+ to AA-.

The rating agency affirmed AyT Cédulas Cajas IX classes A and B at BBB+, Cédulas TDA 3 at AA-, and Cédulas TDA 7 at BBB-. All 12 transactions were removed from CreditWatch.

The 12 transactions are among 43 that S&P put on CreditWatch negative in May. One other transaction has since matured and the other 30 remain on review, said S&P.