Moody’s upgraded 10 multi-cédulas and downgraded 10 today (Friday) as part of rating actions on 45 series in total that concluded a lengthy review period for the bonds and incorporate mixed rating actions on the underlying issuers in recent weeks.

None of the downgrades took issuance into sub-investment grade, and only one will drop out of the iBoxx euro covered bond index as a result, according to analysts.

The ratings of the multi-cédulas taken in by today’s rating action range from Ba1 (AyT Financión Inversiones III, FTA) to A2 (Programa PITCH, FTA), with the exception of two sub-loan series (AyT Cédulas Cajas VIII, FTA – Sub Loan B and Sub Loan A), rated Caa1.

An analyst said that rating actions will have “extremely limited” market impact.

Another noted that out of 27 multi-cédulas that are included in the iBoxx index, 17 were affirmed, five were upgraded by one notch and five were cut by up to two notches. The bond that will drop out of the covered bond index, and move into the iBoxx high yield index, is Cédulas TDA 7, FTA.

The rating actions in most cases conclude longstanding review placements, direction uncertain, for downgrade or for upgrade, and none of the series remain under review. Some of the multi-cédulas have been on review since June 2012, and in some cases the review is thought to date further back than that.

Moody’s said that the rating actions incorporate recent developments on Spanish bank ratings, and also take into account updated information on the underlying mortgage pools of participating issuers.

Among the issuer rating actions feeding the multi-cédulas actions are, according to Moody’s, an upgrade of Banco CEISS, confirmation of Unicaja Banco’s rating, downgrades of NCG Banco and Banco Espírito Santo S.A., and placement on review for upgrade of Catalunya Banc’s rating (B3).

Banco CEISS (Banco de Caja España de Inversiones) was upgraded from B3 to B2, Unicaja Banco’s rating was confirmed at Ba3, and NCG Banco and Banco Espírito Santo were cut from B3 to Caa1 and from Ba3 to B2, respectively.

The rating agency said that the upgrades were carried out because there was an improvement in the expected loss of the multi-cédulas since Moody’s last review and/or the resolution of the watch status of the rating of the participating issuers.

In nine out of 10 series the downgrades are the result of there being significant exposure to issuers rated Caa1 or as assessed through a credit estimate.

The downgrade of AyT Cédulas Cajas VIII, FTA – Sub Loan A, from B2 to Caa1 (sf), results from a small interest shortfall caused by a mid-period transfer in 2012 of the related treasury account from Instituto de Crédito Oficial to Barclays, said Moody’s.

“This shortfall is not expected to be cured by scheduled maturity in November 2014, so the sub loan providers are unlikely to receive the promised principal and interest payments in full,” it said.