The OH of four Portuguese issuers were upgraded by Fitch yesterday (Wednesday) on the back of the implementation of the rating agency’s new covered bond criteria, while the programmes of two UK issuers were also upgraded – Clydesdale’s up to AAA and Co-op’s by four notches to A+.

The upgrades are the latest to come as a result of changes Fitch made to its covered bond rating criteria on 26 October.

Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, the rating agency upgraded the obrigações hipotecárias programmes of Banco Santander Totta and Caixa Económica Montepio Geral from A- to A, Caixa Geral de Depósitos’s from BBB to BBB+, and Banco Comercial Português’s from BBB- to BBB+.

Fitch had put the programmes on Rating Watch Positive (RWP) on 14 November. The upgrades also follow a review of the Portuguese programmes.

Later yesterday afternoon, Fitch upgraded the mortgage covered bonds of Clydesdale Bank, from AA+ to AAA, and The Co-operative Bank, from BBB to A+.

The rating agency affirmed 10 other UK programmes at AAA.