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        T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                           E U R O P E

         Wednesday, November 7, 2018, Vol. 19, No. 221


                            Headlines


G E O R G I A

GEORGIA: S&P Affirms 'BB-/B' Sovereign Credit Ratings


G R E E C E

GREECE: DBRS Confirms B (high) Long-Term Issuer Rating, Trend Pos


I C E L A N D

WOW AIR: Icelandair to Take Over Business Following Losses


I R E L A N D

BE-SPOKE LOAN: DBRS Confirms BB Rating on Mezzanine Notes
DUBLIN BAY 2018-MA1: DBRS Finalizes B (low) Rating on Z1 Notes
MAN GLG V: Moody's Assigns B2(sf) Rating to Class F Notes
MAN GLG V: Fitch Assigns B-sf Rating to Class F Debt


I T A L Y

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN: Moody's Assigns B2 CFR, Outlook Stable
ITALY: Urged by Eurozone Ministers to Redraft Budget Plan


N E T H E R L A N D S

INTERTRUST NV: Moody's Assigns Ba2 CFR, Outlook Stable


P O L A N D

QUMAK SA: Warsaw Restructuring Court Issues Decision


R U S S I A

INTERNATIONAL BANK OF SAINT-PETERSBURG: S&P Withdraws 'D/D' ICRs
RENAISSANCE CREDIT: S&P Raises Long-Term ICR to B, Outlook Stable


S W I T Z E R L A N D

VERISURE MIDHOLDING: Moody's Affirms B2 CFR, Outlook Stable


T U R K E Y

TURKEY: Houlihan Lokey Says Bad Bank May Give Relief to Lenders


U K R A I N E

* UKRAINE: President Ready to Sign Code on Bankruptcy Procedures


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

CASTELL 2018-1: DBRS Finalizes B (low) Rating on Class F Notes
CO-OPERATIVE BANK: Posts Further Losses Year Following Rescue
DEBENHAMS PLC: S&P Cuts Issuer Credit Rating to B-, Outlook Neg.
INSPIRED EDUCATION: S&P Assigns Prelim 'B' ICR, Outlook Stable
JAGUAR LAND: S&P Places 'BB' Long-Term ICR on Watch Negative


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G E O R G I A
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GEORGIA: S&P Affirms 'BB-/B' Sovereign Credit Ratings
-----------------------------------------------------
On Nov. 2, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'BB-/B' long-
and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit
ratings on the Government of Georgia. The outlook is stable.

OUTLOOK

S&P said, "The stable outlook reflects our expectation that net
general government debt will stabilize at about 40% of GDP over
the coming 12 months, and that Georgia's large current account
deficits will reduce and be financed overwhelmingly via foreign
direct investment (FDI) rather than debt.

"We could raise the ratings if we observed a faster-than-
anticipated shift in the structure of the Georgian economy toward
higher-value-added sectors, and an increase in per capita income
levels. Resilient growth momentum, particularly in comparison
with countries at a similar level of economic development, could
also lead to upward rating pressure. Additionally, we could
consider an upgrade if we saw significant improvements in the
effectiveness of monetary policy, resulting from, for example, a
further decline in financial sector dollarization.

"We could lower the ratings if Georgia's external performance
deteriorated over the next 12 months. We could also lower the
ratings if its fiscal performance weakened materially."

RATIONALE

The ratings on Georgia remain supported by the country's
relatively strong institutional arrangements in a regional
comparison, and our forecast that net general government debt
will remain contained, at close to 40% of GDP until end-2021. The
ratings are primarily constrained by GDP per capita of $4,200,
which remains low in a global comparison, as well as by balance-
of-payments vulnerabilities, including Georgia's import
dependence, high current account deficit, and sizable external
debt.

Institutional and Economic Profile: Strong growth maintained
despite domestic political turbulence and volatility in major
trading partners

-- S&P expects Georgia's GDP growth will average 4% per year
    over 2018-2021.

-- S&P also anticipates that the government will maintain focus
    on structural reform and comply with the conditions of the
    International Monetary Fund (IMF) program already in place.

-- Although shortcomings remain, S&P expects Georgia's
     institutional framework will remain among the strongest in
     the region.

Georgia's economy is small and open, with its dynamics therefore
remaining closely correlated with those of its trading partners.
S&P said, "As such, we believe that the volatility of the Turkish
lira and Russian ruble, seen in particular in mid-2018, presents
some downside risks. Both countries remain important trade
partners amounting to a combined 25% of exports and over 40% of
inbound worker remittances. Still, we expect that a relatively
strong outlook for the EU should at least partly cushion the
potential negative impact. As a result, our growth forecasts
remain unchanged, and we anticipate economic expansion will
average 4% annually in 2018-2021. In 2018, we expect real GDP to
expand by 4.8%, partly due to the tourism sector's steady
performance. Although solid, these growth rates are somewhat
below those reported in 2017. High-frequency data points to a
slowdown in economic activity over the third quarter of 2018,
although we understand this reflects seasonal reporting effects,
rather than weaker fundamentals."

S&P anticipates that, over the medium term, net exports will
remain an important factor supporting economic dynamics. However,
S&P also believes that the authorities' reform focus should yield
additional growth benefits, particularly in the long run. Current
initiatives include:

-- Development of the country's infrastructure and prioritizing
    of capital spending rather than current budget expenditures;

-- Improvements in the business environment, including through
    the introduction of a new private-public partnership
     framework, deposit insurance, land reform, and pension
     reform;

-- Tax reforms aimed at easing compliance and addressing the
    issue of value-added tax refunds; and

-- Education reform.

S&P said, "In line with their track record, we believe the
authorities will maintain a broad focus on the initiatives
mentioned above. We also expect continued adherence to the IMF's
Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, which Georgia signed in
April 2017. Under the program, the country has access of up to
$285 million (about 2% of 2018 GDP), subject to semiannual
reviews. Georgia has successfully completed the first two
reviews, and we expect continued compliance.

"We expect per capita income in Georgia will remain modest
through 2021 (averaging $4,500). This largely reflects the
country's narrow economic base and the prevalence of exports of
low-value-added goods, which are structural factors that
typically only change gradually. For example, in the agricultural
sector, which employs a substantial part of Georgia's population
(close to 40% of employment is related to agriculture as
estimated by the IMF), productivity remains comparatively low,
weighing on Georgia's average per capita GDP. This, in turn,
continues to constrain the sovereign ratings. Although we see
some upside in the short term, we maintain our view that most
benefits from the current reform push will materialize beyond our
four-year forecast horizon.

"In our view, Georgia's institutional settings remain favorable
in the context of the region, with several established precedents
regarding power transfer, and a degree of checks and balances
between various government bodies. We also note the National Bank
of Georgia's broad operational independence. We don't expect
significant changes to these institutional arrangements over our
four-year forecast period."

Georgia held presidential elections at the end of October. Given
that none of the candidates secured a majority, there will be a a
second round of voting. The election follows heightened political
uncertainty during the summer, which culminated in the
resignation of the country's prime minister after several public
protests. S&P said, "However, we do not anticipate major policy
shifts after the election given that Georgia's presidential post
is largely ceremonial. We also note the consistent commitment of
Georgian governments to prudent economic policies. Nevertheless,
we see downside risks from the ruling Georgian Dream party's
constitutional majority in parliament. Specifically, we believe
there could be attempts to centralize power, making Georgian
Dream's incumbent position more secure."

S&P said, "We also continue to see risks from regional
geopolitical developments. The status of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia will likely remain a source of continued dispute between
Georgia and Russia. Russia has continued to build stronger ties
with the two territories, as highlighted by the recent partial
integration of the South Ossetian military in the Russian army,
the establishment of a customs post in Abkhazia, and regular
visits to the territories by senior Russian government officials.
However, we don't expect a material escalation, and we anticipate
the conflict will largely remain frozen over the medium term."
Positively, bilateral relations between the two countries in
other areas have been improving in recent years.

Flexibility and Performance Profile: A funded IMF program should
mitigate balance-of-payments risks and anchor fiscal policy

-- Balance-of-payments risks remain elevated and constrain the
    sovereign ratings.

-- An EFF arrangement in place with the IMF should partly
    mitigate these risks and help keep public finances in order.

-- A floating exchange rate and the National Bank of Georgia's
     overall operational independence underpin a degree of
     monetary flexibility, but the high level of dollarization
     remains a constraint.

Georgia's weak external position remains one of the primary
constraints on the ratings. S&P notes that, owing to stronger
exports and remittances performance, the country's external
current account deficit narrowed significantly last year. Still,
at close to 9% of GDP, the deficit remains substantial, although
S&P expects this will narrow slightly to 7% by 2021.

S&P said, "Positively, we believe external risks are partly
mitigated by a substantial portion of accumulated foreign debt
pertaining to the public sector, which benefits from favorable
terms and long repayment periods. They are also mitigated by the
funding structure of the country's external gap in recent years.
Although we expect current account deficits will remain
substantial over 2018-2021, they primarily reflect sizable net
FDI inflows into the energy, logistics, and tourism sectors. In
fact, we expect that over 2018-2021, net FDI will finance about
90% of the cumulative current account deficit. Consequently, we
believe large headline current account deficits somewhat
overestimate Georgia's external risks, which would have been more
pronounced if the deficits were financed instead by debt."

That said, there are still significant vulnerabilities.
Specifically, while a hypothetical sizable reduction in FDI
inflows may not necessarily lead to a disorderly adjustment
involving an abrupt depreciation of the Georgian lari (due to a
simultaneous corresponding contraction in FDI-related imports),
it will likely have implications for Georgia's growth and
employment. The accumulated stock of inward FDI also remains
substantial, at about 160% of the country's generated current
account receipts, exposing the sovereign to risks should foreign
investors decide to leave, for example, due to changes in the
business environment or a deterioration in Georgia's economic
outlook.

S&P said, "We expect Georgia's fiscal performance will remain in
line with recent historical trends. We anticipate headline
deficits will reduce, averaging 2.5% of GDP until end-2021. Under
the existing reform plan, the authorities aim to increase revenue
intake and reduce current spending to create more space for
public-financed capital expenditures. This is also the focus of
the EFF arrangement with the IMF, which we believe should act
more broadly as an anchor keeping public finances in order.

"In our view, the principal fiscal risk stems from weaker nominal
growth than projected. The public balance sheet also remains
exposed to foreign exchange risk, given that about 80% of
government debt is in foreign currency. Consequently, several
factors largely outside of the government's control could raise
leverage in the event of a weakening lari exchange rate. These
include weaker-than-projected growth of a trading partner or an
increase in regional geopolitical tensions, for example, due to a
deterioration of relations between Georgia and Russia or a
worsening domestic political environment in Turkey.

"Given our base-case expectation of relatively modest lari
depreciation over 2019-2020, we believe the annual rise in net
general government debt will slightly exceed the headline annual
deficit. Overall, gross leverage will remain broadly stable, with
net general government debt of about 42% of GDP over the next
three years. We currently consider that the contingent fiscal
liabilities stemming from public enterprises and the domestic
banking system are limited."

In S&P's view, the effectiveness of Georgia's monetary policy
compares favorably in a regional context. Specifically:

-- Historically, inflation has remained consistently low,
    averaging less than 4% over 2010-2017. S&P anticipates the
     central bank will broadly meet its inflation target of 3%
     over the next four years;

-- Given the floating exchange rate regime, Georgia has promptly
    adjusted to changing external conditions, at the same time
    avoiding abrupt and damaging swings in the real effective
    exchange rate in either direction; and

-- The banking system remains on relatively strong footing. S&P
    said, "We note that nonperforming loans (based on National
    Bank of Georgia's calculation) have remained at about 7%-8%
    even though the lari weakened notably in 2015-2016, while
    economic growth decelerated. According to IMF's calculations,
    nonperforming loans reduced further to 2.7% at the end of the
    third quarter of 2018."

S&P said, "High levels of dollarization continue to constrain the
effectiveness of monetary policy, in our view. For instance,
despite a recent decline from almost 70% at end-2016,
dollarization of resident deposits remains substantial, at about
61%. Positively, we note the authorities' efforts to reduce the
economy's dollarization, including through differentiating
liquidity requirements for domestic and foreign currency
liabilities, implementing a pension reform, developing the
domestic debt capital market, and introducing deposit insurance,
alongside other measures."

"We anticipate that, over the next four years, the stock of
domestic credit will expand by 15% a year on average (including
foreign exchange effects), which is broadly similar to the trend
in recent years. Although pockets of vulnerability remain,
particularly in the retail lending segment, we view positively
the regulator's attempts to diffuse risks. The introduced
measures include loan-to-value and payment-to-income limits,
additional capital requirements for systemic banks, and bolstered
nonbank sector supervision."

In accordance with S&P's relevant policies and procedures, the
Rating Committee was composed of analysts that are qualified to
vote in the committee, with sufficient experience to convey the
appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of the
methodology applicable.

At the onset of the committee, the chair confirmed that the
information provided to the Rating Committee by the primary
analyst had been distributed in a timely manner and was
sufficient for Committee members to make an informed decision.
After the primary analyst gave opening remarks and explained the
recommendation, the Committee discussed key rating factors and
critical issues in accordance with the relevant criteria.
Qualitative and quantitative risk factors were considered and
discussed, looking at track-record and forecasts.

The committee's assessment of the key rating factors is reflected
in the Ratings Score Snapshot above.

The chair ensured every voting member was given the opportunity
to articulate his/her opinion. The chair or designee reviewed the
draft report to ensure consistency with the Committee decision.
The views and the decision of the rating committee are summarized
in the above rationale and outlook. The weighting of all rating
factors is described in the methodology used in this rating
action.

  RATINGS LIST
  Ratings Affirmed

  Georgia (Government of)
   Sovereign Credit Rating                BB-/Stable/B
   Transfer & Convertibility Assessment   BB+
   Senior Unsecured                       BB-


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G R E E C E
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GREECE: DBRS Confirms B (high) Long-Term Issuer Rating, Trend Pos
-----------------------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings Limited confirmed the Hellenic Republic's Long-Term
Foreign and Local Currency -- Issuer Ratings at B (high) and
maintained a Positive trend. DBRS confirmed the Short-Term
Foreign and Local Currency -- Issuer Ratings at R-4 with a Stable
trend.

KEY RATING CONSIDERATIONS

Since the last rating review Greece has completed the Third
Adjustment Programme. GDP growth has been more skewed than
expected towards the external sector, but some rebalancing
towards domestic demand is expected in coming quarters. GDP
growth is projected to strengthen to 2.1% this year from 1.5% in
2017, to 2.5% in 2019. Budgetary performance is sound and we
expect the target for 2018 to be exceeded. Nevertheless, further
sustained progress is needed, and Greece has yet to fully return
to the markets. The authorities have presented two scenarios for
the general government primary surplus in the 2019 draft budget.
The base case generates a 4.2% primary surplus and an alternative
scenario 3.6%, close to the current target. DBRS expects a
decision on the budget scenario by year-end, and a compromise
solution to emerge.

DBRS's decision to maintain a Positive trend reflects the
likelihood that Greece will continue its reform path in the post-
programme period. DBRS anticipates evidence to emerge of
compliance with the Enhanced Surveillance mechanism and a gradual
return to market funding. A European Commission positive
assessment under the Enhanced Surveillance should activate the
contingent debt measures and could also support efforts to
restore confidence in capital markets.

RATING DRIVERS

Triggers for an upgrade include: (1) continued implementation of
fiscal and structural reforms to support future economic growth;
(2) compliance with post-programme monitoring; and (3) greater
bond market access.

By contrast, a return to a Stable trend could stem from: (1) a
reversal or stalling in structural reforms; (2) material fiscal
slippage (3) renewed financial-sector instability.

RATING RATIONALE

Some Reduction Expected in Very High Public Debt Levels, but
Long-term Sustainability Questions Remain

The draft budget includes a projection of a 12.8 percentage point
reduction in the public debt ratio in 2019 - from an estimated
level of 183% this year to 170.2% next year, albeit still a very
high level. The improvement relates to primary surplus generation
and growth of nominal GDP. Mitigants to the high debt stock
include the fact that EU institutions hold over 70% of government
debt that contributes to the very long weighted-average maturity
and most of the debt financed at low fixed interest rates.
According to the Greek Debt Management Office, at end-August
Greece held a EUR24.1bn cash buffer equivalent to two years of
gross financing needs. This allows time for the restoration of
full market confidence while Greece implements growth supporting
policies and fiscal consolidation. In addition, some of the cash
buffer could fund the repayment of more expensive debt.

In the longer term, the challenge of sustaining primary surplus
over many years to meet debt service payments raises questions in
the context of the high debt stock. A Eurogroup review of debt
dynamics at the end of the EFSF grace period in 2032 to establish
whether additional debt re-profiling is necessary provides some
comfort.

Economy Continues to Recover with a Strong External Sector

In August 2018, Greece completed successfully its Third
Adjustment Programme, amid a recovering economy. Real GDP growth
for 2017 was revised upwards to 1.5% from 1.4%. While below the
1.8% estimated by the government in the 2018 budget, it was the
strongest growth Greece recorded in its decade-long crisis.
Moreover, the 2.2% growth in the first half of this year, due to
stronger growth in exports of goods and services and the gradual
recovery in private consumption, suggests that the Greek economy
continues to strengthen. However, external trade headwinds could
present some risks to the GDP growth projection.

According to the Draft 2019 Budget presented by the Greek
government, real GDP growth is expected to reach 2.1% in 2018 and
2.5% in 2019, with private consumption and investment being the
main contributors. On the back of the labor market reforms,
employment has been growing and the unemployment rate has been
falling amounting to 19.0% in July 2018. However, it remains the
highest in the EU. DBRS considers that the continuation of the
reform effort and safeguarding the reforms that have already been
adopted will support ability to remain on a sustained growth
path.

Greece Continues to Over perform on its Fiscal Targets

Since 2010, the country went through an unprecedented fiscal
adjustment, with the cumulative improvement in the primary
balance exceeding 16 percentage points in 2017. For a second
consecutive year, in 2017 Greece delivered a primary surplus of
4.2% well above the 1.75% target set by the programme. The
primary surplus target for 2018 is set at 3.5% and is expected to
be achieved.

Given the over performance of fiscal targets, the Greek
government has presented two scenarios for the primary surplus
targets. The 2019 Budgetary plan presented to the European
Commission in October, included two different scenarios regarding
the pre-legislated pension cuts, scheduled for implementation in
January 2019. The pension measures are in addition to the 2016
Pension Reform, which affected significantly the pensions issued
after the reform, but left intact those issued before. Under the
baseline scenario, which incorporates the pension cuts, the
primary fiscal surplus in programme terms is projected at 4.2% of
the GDP, well above the 3.5% target set by the Medium-Term Fiscal
Strategy 2019-2022. In the alternative scenario, which excludes
the pension measures, the primary fiscal surplus is estimated at
3.6% of GDP for 2019. The European Commission is expected to
provide its assessment in the first quarterly review of the Greek
economy in mid-November. DBRS considers that the fiscal reforms
undertaken under the three adjustment programmes have restored
Greece's fiscal sustainability, however the future targets remain
challenging and their durability are contingent on sustained
economy recovery.

Continued Improvement in Greek Banks, but Still High NPEs

Greece's banks' profitability continues to improve helped by a
more positive economic backdrop. However, high levels of impaired
assets prevail, with a non-performing exposure ratio of 44.9% at
end-June 2018. Reduced reliance on the ECB's Emergency Liquidity
Assistance (ELA) is reflected in the decline in the ceiling from
a peak of EUR90bn in July 2015 to EUR5bn according to the latest
data available. This demonstrates banks' improved liquidity
including access to wholesale markets. The net flow of credit to
the private sector is positive. Capital controls introduced in
June 2015 have been mostly lifted as deposits placed by the
private sector increased at an annual rate of 7.4% in September.
Greek banks have existing capital-strengthening/strategic plans
put in place following the EBA stress test in May.

Since the Crisis the External Imbalances Have Receded
Substantially

Greece's current account deficit improved in 2017 to 0.8% of GDP
from 1.1% of GDP in 2016, mainly driven by the improvement in the
services balance. In 2018, the current account is expected to be
around the 2017 levels, supported by the strong performance of
exports of goods and services. Greece's exports of goods have
increased by 58% since 2009 in nominal terms. The strong services
balance has also performed strongly, increasing to a surplus of
9.8% of GDP in 2017 from a surplus of 4.8% of GDP in 2009. This
is mainly attributed to the improvement in the travel balance
with foreign arrivals increased by 14.6% in the first seven
months of 2018 compared to the same period of the previous year.

From a stock perspective, Greece's negative net international
investment position (NIIP) remains high at 141.7% of GDP in June,
up from 88.8% in 2011, mostly reflecting public sector external
debt. It is expected to remain at high levels because of the
long-term horizon of foreign official-sector loans to the public
sector. A current account close to balance, if sustained, should
prevent a material deterioration in the external borrowing
position.

DBRS Expects a Broad Continuation of Existing Policies

Greece holds parliamentary elections every four years, with the
next due by October 2019. The recent agreement between Greece and
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on name change
increased the tensions in the coalition government and could
raise the prospects of snap elections. The agreement was signed
in June 2018 and requires a constitutional change by FYROM,
before reaching the Greek Parliament for ratification. The latest
opinion polls show that the center-right, New Democracy is
leading by almost 10 percentage points. DBRS believes that the
increased political stability observed over the last two years is
likely to be maintained and we do not expect any policy reversals
under a potential New Democracy-led government.

RATING COMMITTEE SUMMARY

The DBRS Sovereign Scorecard generates a result in the BB to B
high range. The main points discussed during the Rating Committee
include economic and fiscal performance, the political situation,
and the debt profile and debt management.

KEY INDICATORS

Fiscal Balance (% GDP): 0.8 (2017); 0.8 (2018F); 1.1 (2019F)
Gross Debt (% GDP): 178.6 (2017); 183.0 (2018F); 170.2 (2019F)
Nominal GDP (EUR billions): 177.2(2017); 184.8 (2018F); 192.4
(2019F)
GDP per Capita (EUR): 16,641 (2017); 17,307 (2018F); 18,120
(2019F)
Real GDP growth (%): 1.5 (2017); 2.1 (2018F); 2.5 (2019F)
Consumer Price Inflation (%): 1.1 (2017); 0.7 (2018F); 1.2
(2019F)
Domestic Credit (% GDP): 132.0 (2017); 127.8 (Mar-2017)
Current Account (% GDP): -1.1 (2017); -0.8 (2018F); -0.5 (2019F)
International Investment Position (% GDP): -141.4 (2017); -141.7
(Jun-2018)
Gross External Debt (% GDP): 227.8 (2017); 220.0 (Jun-2018)
Governance Indicator (percentile rank): 62.5 (2016); 66.3 (2017)
Human Development Index: 0.87 (2016); 0.87 (2017)

EURO AREA RISK GROUP: MEDIUM

Notes: All figures are in Euros unless otherwise noted. Public
finance statistics reported on a general government basis unless
specified. Governance indicator represents an average percentile
rank (0-100) from Rule of Law, Voice and Accountability and
Government Effectiveness indicators (all World Bank). Human
Development Index (UNDP) ranges from 0-1, with 1 representing a
very high level of human development.


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WOW AIR: Icelandair to Take Over Business Following Losses
----------------------------------------------------------
Josh Spero and Richard Milne at The Financial Times report that
Icelandair has agreed to take over long-haul low-cost carrier Wow
Air, also based in Iceland, in an all-share deal worth US$25
million.

Only two months ago, Wow's chief executive and owner was
expecting to raise US$200 million-US$300 million in an initial
public offering within 18 months, the FT relates.

The purchase of the lossmaking airline comes during an
accelerating period of consolidation in European aviation, driven
by failures and takeovers, the FT notes.

According to the FT, Skuli Mogensen, who founded Wow in 2011, had
said he would sell less than half of the company at IPO, but did
not give a valuation for the whole business.

He will now receive 272 million shares in Icelandair, which were
trading at half their level from a year ago, at ISK8, when the
deal was announced, valuing the transaction at US$18 million, but
increased to ISK11 and US$25 million in its wake, the FT states.

Wow, which offers cheap flights to the US through its Iceland
hub, has had a difficult couple of years: it lost US$27.5 million
before tax in 2017 with revenue of US$486 million, and expects to
lose US$6 million this year, the FT discloses.



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BE-SPOKE LOAN: DBRS Confirms BB Rating on Mezzanine Notes
---------------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings Limited confirmed its ratings on the Senior Notes
and the Mezzanine Notes (together, the Rated Notes) of Be-Spoke
Loan Funding DAC (the Borrower) as follows:

-- Senior Notes at AA (low) (sf)
-- Mezzanine Notes at BB (sf)

The rating on the Senior Notes addresses the timely payment of
interest and ultimate payment of principal payable on or before
the scheduled maturity date in September 2025. The timely payment
of interest does not include the Senior Note Step-Up Interest
Amount of 2% from 1 October 2018. The Senior Note Step-Up
Interest Amount is only paid to the extent that the proceeds are
available and is always paid junior in the priority of payments.
The rating on the Mezzanine Notes addresses the ultimate payment
of interest and principal payable on or before the scheduled
maturity date.

Additionally, DBRS removed the Rated Notes from their Under
Review with Developing Implications (UR Dev.) status.

The confirmations follow a review of the transaction based on the
amendments that became effective on 30 October 2018. The
amendments include the increase of the total Junior Mezzanine
Note Commitment to EUR 150 million from EUR 50 million and the
total Subordinated Note Commitment to EUR 30 million from EUR 20
million; the inclusion of an additional matrix point to the
capital structure; a decrease of the maximum weighted-average
life to 4.8 years from 5.5 years; and an extension of the ramp-up
period until 1 April 2019.

The Borrower is a designated activity company incorporated under
the laws of the Republic of Ireland. The transaction is a direct
lending warehouse facility set up as a cash flow securitization
with the purpose to fund the purchase of a portfolio of loans
granted by Be-Spoke Capital (Ireland) Limited (the Originator) to
Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises.

As of August 24, 2018, the transaction portfolio consisted of
collateral obligations totalling EUR 151.9 million that were
extended to 45 companies based in Spain.

Notes: All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.


DUBLIN BAY 2018-MA1: DBRS Finalizes B (low) Rating on Z1 Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings Limited finalized its provisional ratings of the
notes issued by Dublin Bay Securities 2018-MA1 DAC (DBS 2018-MA1
or the Issuer) as follows:

-- Class A1 notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class A2A notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class A2B notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class S notes rated AAA (sf)
-- Class B notes rated AA (sf)
-- Class C notes rated A (high) (sf)
-- Class D notes rated A (sf)
-- Class E notes rated BBB (sf)
-- Class F notes rated B (high) (sf)
-- Class Z1 notes rated B (low) (sf)

The Class Z2 and R notes are not rated.

DBRS's final ratings assigned to the Class B and D notes differ
from the provisional ratings assigned on 22 October 2018,
following an improvement in the credit quality of the closing
pool. The closing pool has been topped up by 5% and all loans
with Title Remediation Issues have been removed. With respect to
the provisional pool, the closing one contains a lower share of
interest only loans and a lower share of loans with loan-to-value
ratios higher than 100%.

DBS 2018-MA1 is a bankruptcy-remote special-purpose vehicle (SPV)
incorporated in Ireland. The issued notes were used to fund the
purchase of Irish residential mortgage loans originated by Bank
of Scotland plc and secured over properties located in Ireland.
Bank of Scotland sold the portfolio in September 2018 to Erimon
Home Loans Ireland limited, a bankruptcy-remote SPV wholly owned
by Barclays Bank plc.

As at July 31, 2018, the final mortgage portfolio consisted of
2,310 loans with a total portfolio balance of approximately EUR
401.8 million. The weighted-average (WA) loan-to-indexed value,
as calculated by DBRS giving a limited credit-to-house price
increase, is 65.9% with a WA seasoning of 11.9 years. Almost all
the loans included in the portfolio (99.94%), are floating-rate
loans linked either to the European Central Bank (ECB) rate or a
variable rate linked to ECB rate. The notes pay a floating rate
of interest linked to three-month Euribor. DBRS has accounted for
this interest rate mismatch in its cash flow analysis. No loans
have been originated to buy-to-let borrowers, nor does the
portfolio include loans in arrears.

Credit enhancement for the Class A1, A2A and A2B notes (together,
the Class A2 notes) is calculated at 23.0% and is provided by the
subordination of Classes B through Z and the liquidity reserve
fund. Credit enhancement for the Class B notes is calculated at
18.75% and is provided by the subordination of the Class C notes
to the Class Z notes. Credit enhancement for the Class C notes is
calculated at 16.0% and is provided by the subordination of the
Class D notes to the Class Z notes. Credit enhancement for the
Class D notes is calculated at 12.75% and is provided by the
subordination of the Class E Class F and Class Z notes. Credit
enhancement for the Class E notes is calculated at 10.5% and is
provided by the subordination of the Class F and Class Z notes.
Credit enhancement for the Class F notes is calculated at 8.25%
and is provided by the subordination of the Class Z1 and Z2
notes. Credit Enhancement for the Class Z1 notes is calculated at
5.5% and is provided by the subordination of the Class Z2 notes.
Class S notes are redeemed under the pre-enforcement revenue
priority of payments, but principal receipts can be used to cure
shortfalls in the required payments for Class S.

The Class A2 notes will repay according to a pre-determined
amortization schedule, which can be revised downwards if they
receive more than the scheduled payments, whereas the Class A1
notes are entitled to receive from the excess to the scheduled
payment of the Class A2 notes. The Class A1, A2 and S notes rank
senior and are pari passu.

The transaction has been structured to try to ensure that in the
event that principal receipts from the mortgage loans are higher
or lower than expected, the Class A2 notes receive the Class A2
scheduled payment. If principal receipts are higher than
expected, when Class A1 has been fully redeemed and the
amortization reserve is fully funded, the Class A2 principal
payments will accelerate over the schedule. If principal receipts
are lower than expected, the principal payment on the other
classes will reduce. If no principal is to be paid on the other
classes, an amortization reserve is available to cover deficits
on Class A2, together with the option of an extraordinary payment
from Class Z2 note holders.

The Issuer has established a protected amortization reserve fund,
which was not funded at closing. On each interest payment date,
the reserve can be funded from Available Principal Receipts up to
a maximum of 2% of the outstanding balance of the collateralized
notes at closing. The protected amortization reserve fund will
support payments for the Class A2 notes to ensure that the
scheduled payments are met.

The liquidity reserve fund is sized at 1.25% of the Class A
balance and provides liquidity support to cover revenue
shortfalls on senior fees and interest on the Class A and S
notes. The notes will additionally be provided with liquidity
support from principal receipts, which can be used to cover
interest shortfalls on all the rated notes subject to no
principal deficiency ledgers (PDLs) outstanding on the relevant
mezzanine class, Consequently, a debit is applied to the PDLs in
reverse sequential order.

A key structural feature is the provisioning mechanism in the
transaction, which is linked to the arrears' status of a loan --
besides the usual provisioning based on losses -- and to the
repayment type of the loan in case of a maturity extension. The
degree of provisioning increases the longer a loan is in arrears,
or the longer the maturity is extended for interest-only loans.
Loans with capitalized arrears will be considered in arrears
unless the loan is able to demonstrate six months of clean
performance. This is positive for the transaction as provisioning
based on the arrears' status will trap any excess spread much
earlier for a loan, which may ultimately end up in foreclosure.

The Issuer Account Bank, Paying Agent and Cash Manager is
Citibank, N.A., London Branch. Based on the DBRS private rating
of the Issuer Account Bank, the downgrade provisions outlined in
the transaction documents, and structural mitigants, DBRS
considers the risk arising from the exposure to the Issuer
Account Bank to be consistent with the ratings assigned to the
notes, as described in DBRS's "Legal Criteria for European
Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

The ratings assigned to the Class A and S notes address the
timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on
or before the final maturity date. The ratings assigned to the
Class B to Class Z1 notes address the ultimate payment of
interest and principal. DBRS based its ratings primarily on the
following:

   -- The transaction capital structure, form and sufficiency of
available credit enhancement and liquidity provisions.

   -- The credit quality of the mortgage loan portfolio and the
ability of the servicer to perform collection activities. DBRS
calculated the probability of default (PD), loss given default
(LGD) and expected loss outputs on the mortgage loan portfolio.

  -- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash
flow assumptions and repays the rated notes according to the
terms of the transaction documents. The transaction cash flows
were analyzed using PD and LGD outputs provided by the "Master
European Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Rating
Methodology and Jurisdictional Addenda" methodology. Transaction
cash flows were analyzed using INTEX Dealmaker.

   -- The structural mitigants in place to avoid potential
payment disruptions caused by operational risk, such as downgrade
and replacement language in the transaction documents.

   -- The consistency of the transaction's legal structure with
DBRS's "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance
Transactions" methodology and presence of legal opinions
addressing the assignment of the assets to the Issuer.

Notes: All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.


MAN GLG V: Moody's Assigns B2(sf) Rating to Class F Notes
---------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following definitive ratings to notes issued by Man GLG Euro CLO
V Designated Activity Company:

EUR 234,000,000 Class A-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR 14,000,000 Class A-2 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR 8,000,000 Class B-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR 20,000,000 Class B-2 Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR 10,000,000 Class B-3 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR 4,250,000 Class C-1 Deferrable Mezzanine Floating Rate Notes
due 2031, Definitive Rating Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR 8,000,000 Class C-2 Deferrable Mezzanine Fixed Rate Notes due
2031, Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR 15,750,000 Class C-3 Deferrable Mezzanine Floating Rate Notes
due 2031, Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR 18,000,000 Class D-1 Deferrable Mezzanine Floating Rate Notes
due 2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Baa2 (sf)

EUR 2,000,000 Class D-2 Deferrable Mezzanine Fixed Rate Notes due
2031, Assigned Baa2 (sf)

EUR 26,000,000 Class E Deferrable Junior Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned Ba2 (sf)

EUR 12,000,000 Class F Deferrable Junior Floating Rate Notes due
2031, Definitive Rating Assigned B2 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

Moody's definitive ratings of the rated notes reflect the risks
from defaults on the underlying portfolio of loans given the
characteristics and eligibility criteria of the constituent
assets, the relevant portfolio tests and covenants, as well as
the transaction's capital and legal structure. Furthermore,
Moody's considers that the collateral manager GLG Partners LP
("GLG Partners") has sufficient experience and operational
capacity and is capable of managing this CLO.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to
10% of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured obligations,
second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high yield bonds.
The portfolio is expected to be 70% ramped up as of the closing
date and comprises predominantly corporate loans to obligors
domiciled in Western Europe. The remainder of the portfolio will
be acquired during the six month ramp-up period in compliance
with the portfolio guidelines.

GLG Partners will manage the CLO. It will direct the selection,
acquisition and disposition of collateral on behalf of the Issuer
and may engage in trading activity, including discretionary
trading, during the transaction's four-year reinvestment period.
Thereafter, purchases are permitted using principal proceeds from
unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from sales of credit
risk obligations or credit improved obligations, and are subject
to certain restrictions.

Interest and principal payments due to the Class A-2 Notes are
subordinated to interest and principal payments due to the Class
A-1 Notes.

In addition to the twelve classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer has issued EUR 39,500,000 of Subordinated Notes which are
not rated.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests
which, if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to
pay down the notes in order of seniority.

Methodology underlying the rating action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's
Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations"
published in August 2017.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the
ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The
notes' performance is sensitive to the performance of the
underlying portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and
credit conditions that may change. The collateral manager's
investment decisions and management of the transaction will also
affect the notes' performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using CDOEdge, a cash flow model
based on the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in
Section 2.3 of the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating
Collateralized Loan Obligations" rating methodology published in
August 2017.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR 400,000,000

Diversity Score: 44

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 2880

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.60%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 5.00%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 44.0%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

Moody's has addressed the potential exposure to obligors
domiciled in countries with local currency ceiling (LCC) of A1 or
below. As per the portfolio constraints, exposures to countries
with LCC of A1 or below cannot exceed 10%, with exposures to LCC
of Baa1 to Baa3 further limited to 2.5% and with exposures of LCC
below Baa3 not greater than 0%.


MAN GLG V: Fitch Assigns B-sf Rating to Class F Debt
----------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned Man GLG Euro CLO V Designated Activity
Company final ratings as follows:

EUR234 million Class A-1: 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR14 million Class A-2: 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR8 million Class B-1: 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR20 million Class B-2: 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR10 million Class B-3: 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR4.25 million Class C-1: 'Asf'; Outlook Stable

EUR8 million Class C-2: 'Asf'; Outlook Stable

EUR15.75 million Class C-3: 'Asf'; Outlook Stable

EUR18 million Class D-1: 'BBBsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR2 million Class D-2: 'BBBsf'; Outlook Stable

EUR26 million Class E: 'BB-sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR12 million Class F: 'B-sf'; Outlook Stable

EUR39.5 million subordinated notes: 'NRsf'

The transaction is a cash flow collateralised loan obligation.
Net proceeds from the issuance of the notes are being used to
purchase a portfolio of mostly senior secured leveraged loans and
bonds with a target par of EUR400 million. The portfolio is
managed by GLG Partners LP. The CLO envisages a 4.1-year
reinvestment period and an 8.5-year weighted average life (WAL).

KEY RATING DRIVERS

'B'/'B-' Portfolio Credit Quality

Fitch places the average credit quality of obligors in the
'B'/'B-' category. The weighted average rating factor (WARF) of
the identified portfolio is 33.5.

High Recovery Expectations

At least 90% of the portfolio comprises senior secured
obligations. Recovery prospects for these assets are typically
more favourable than for second-lien, unsecured and mezzanine
assets. The weighted average recovery rating (WARR) of the
identified portfolio is 66.2%.

Diversified Asset Portfolio

The transaction contains a covenant that limits the top 10
obligors in the portfolio to 20% of the portfolio balance. The
transaction also includes various concentration limits, including
the maximum exposure to the three largest (Fitch-defined)
industries in the portfolio at 40%. These covenants ensure that
the asset portfolio will not be exposed to excessive
concentration.

Adverse Selection and Portfolio Management

The transaction features a 4.1-year reinvestment period and
includes reinvestment criteria similar to other European
transactions. Fitch's analysis is based on a stressed-case
portfolio with the aim of testing the robustness of the
transaction structure against its covenants and portfolio
guidelines.

Cash Flow Analysis

Fitch used a customised proprietary cash flow model to replicate
the principal and interest waterfalls and the various structural
features of the transaction, and to assess their effectiveness,
including the structural protection provided by excess spread
diverted through the par value and interest coverage tests.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

A 25% default multiplier applied to the portfolio's mean default
rate, and with this increase added to all rating default levels,
would lead to a downgrade of up to two notches for the rated
notes. A 25% reduction in recovery rates would lead to a
downgrade of up to four notches for the rated notes.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO RULE 17G-10

Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to, or reviewed by,
Fitch in relation to this rating action.

DATA ADEQUACY

The majority of the underlying assets have ratings or credit
opinions from Fitch and/or other Nationally Recognised
Statistical Rating Organisations and/or European Securities and
Markets Authority-registered rating agencies. Fitch has relied on
the practices of the relevant groups within Fitch and/or other
rating agencies to assess the asset portfolio information.

Overall, Fitch's assessment of the asset pool information relied
upon for the agency's rating analysis according to its applicable
rating methodologies indicates that it is adequately reliable.


=========
I T A L Y
=========


INTERNATIONAL DESIGN: Moody's Assigns B2 CFR, Outlook Stable
------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a B2 corporate family
rating and a B2-PD probability of default rating to the Italian
high-end lighting and furniture group International Design Group
S.p.A.  This is the first time Moody's assigns a rating to IDG.
Concurrently, Moody's has assigned B2 ratings to the aggregate
EUR720 million senior secured fixed and floating rate notes due
2025 to be issued by the group. The outlook on all ratings is
stable.

"The B2 rating assigned to International Design Group S.p.A.
reflects its solid brands portfolio, strong brands recognition
and high profitability which compensate for the modest size of
the group, despite being one of the largest player in its
reference market, the exposure to discretionary spending and a
degree of reliance on external designers to provide new products
idea which the group needs in order to remain competitive", says
Paolo Leschiutta, a Moody's Senior Vice President and lead
analyst for IDG. "We expect the group to maintain a debt to
EBITDA ratio (as adjusted by Moody's) below 5.5x. The group,
however, will need to demonstrate its ability to deliver a common
strategy and to achieve some revenues and cost synergies in order
to strengthen its position in the rating category," adds Mr.
Leschiutta.

RATINGS RATIONALE

International Design Group S.p.A. (IDG) is a newly formed group
incorporating three high-end lightning and furniture companies:
Flos S.p.A. (Flos), B&B Italia S.p.A. (B&B) and Louis Poulsen A/S
(Louis Poulsen). The B2 rating, pro forma for the merger which is
expected to conclude over the coming few months, is supported by
the group's solid brands portfolio, products diversification and
high operating margins thanks to high-end price positioning.
Although the group will be one of the largest player in the high-
end design furniture market and benefits from a portfolio of
heritage products that continue to generate revenues, its rating
is constrained by the group's modest size, the exposure to
discretionary spending and the need to remain competitive and
innovative through new product launches.

The combined group will benefit from a solid and diversified
portfolio of innovative and design products, including a number
of iconic items which continue to appeal to customers at the high
end of the market and provide for some revenues visibility. On
top, IDG relies on a number of internationally famous designers
to provide new concepts and ideas to support continued product
innovation. Although key designers have collaborated with the
three companies for a number of years with very limited turnover,
the group maintains mainly open-ended contracts with them and it
is exposed to a degree of designers concentration, particularly
in the B&B furniture activity. The group, however, normally pays
royalties based on annual revenues limiting fixed costs while its
portfolio of high-end brands continues to attract the interest of
famous designers that want to collaborate with the three
companies.

Although market fundamentals are good and indicate potential for
low to mid-single digit growth rates over the coming 2 to 3
years, the high-end design market remains exposed to
discretionary spending. It suffered from a severe contraction
during the last crisis and it took more than five years for the
market to recover to its pre-crisis level in terms of value. In
addition, the group is exposed to fashion risk as consumers
change rapidly preferences and design remains an important
element of the purchase decision. In this context Moody's
positively notes that the three companies continue to generate
most of their revenues from products launched before 2013.

The holding company of the group, International Design Group
S.p.A., is looking to issue a EUR720 million senior secured bond
to finance the acquisitions of the three entities and repay
existing debt. Pro-forma for the transaction, Moody's expects the
group to have a Moody's adjusted debt to EBITDA ratio slightly
above 5.5x at the end of 2018. Deleveraging will result from (i)
low to mid-single digit EBITDA growth which will stem from
expected organic growth backed by existing favorable
macroeconomic conditions, (ii) the company's plan to open a
selected number of new stores and (iii) a degree, albeit modest,
of revenues and cost synergies that should arise from the
combination of the three entities. As a result, Moody's expects
the company's financial leverage to reduce over the next 12
months and to remain below 5.5x on an ongoing basis. Furthermore
Moody's acknowledges the group's high profitability and modest
capex needs which should support sustained positive free cash
flow generation.

In addition, pro forma for the bond issue Moody's expects the
group will maintain a solid liquidity profile thanks to a new and
undrawn EUR100 million revolving credit facility.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

International Design Group S.p.A. will be the issuer of the
proposed EUR720 million senior secured notes and the main
borrower of the new EUR100 million multicurrency super senior
RCF, which will also be available at the main operating companies
within the group. Moody's understands that the capital entering
the restricted group will be in the form of common equity and
that outside of the restricted group there will be no other
instruments with debt/equity like characteristics.

The RCF and the senior secured notes will benefit from guarantees
from the three main operating companies (representing
approximately 80% of group's EBITDA) and will be secured on a
first ranking basis on (1) the shares of the issuer, guarantors
and material subsidiaries, including the targets companies; (2)
certain material structural intercompany receivables; and (3)
certain material bank accounts. The notes will rank behind the
super senior RCF which benefits from priority call on the
security package, however, Moody's views the security package as
weak and the size of the revolver is not enough to cause a
notching differential on the notes.

RATIONALE FOR THE STABLE OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that the group
will be successful in deriving some revenues and cost synergies
from the combination of the three entities while maintaining a
prudent expansion policy. The outlook also assumes that the group
will be able to maintain its existing agreements with key
designers.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UP/DOWN

Success in implementing a new common strategy deriving full
revenues and cost synergies, together with a demonstrated ability
to maintain an operating margin in the high teens in percentage
terms could lead to a rating upgrade. In addition, to consider a
positive rating action, the group's financial leverage, measured
as Moody's adjusted debt to EBITDA, needs to reduce towards 4.5x
and its Moody's adjusted EBIT interest cover needs to remain
above 2.5x.

Deterioration in the company's operating margins towards the low
teens in percentage terms leading to a financial leverage above
5.5x on a sustainable basis could result in a rating downgrade.
The rating could come under negative pressure also in case of a
weakening in the company's liquidity profile or in case of a more
aggressive financial policy signaled by aggressive acquisitions
or shareholders distribution in excess of free cash flow
generation.

International Design Group S.p.A. is formed by the combination of
three high-end design companies: Flos, a leading Italian high-end
lights manufacturer, B&B Italia S.p.A., a leading Italian high-
end furniture company, and Louis Poulsen, a leading Danish high-
end lighting company. The combination is waiting some customary
antitrust approvals and is expected to close before year end. The
combined group generated EUR535 million of revenues and EUR122
million of EBITDA as of June 2018 on a LTM basis. Based on 2017
results, the group generated 65% of revenues in Europe, including
15% in Italy, with the rest spread between North America and
Asia. The group is owned by Investindustrial and the Carlyle
Group (around 45% each), together with the management (between
5%-10%).

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Consumer
Durables Industry published in April 2017.


ITALY: Urged by Eurozone Ministers to Redraft Budget Plan
---------------------------------------------------------
Jim Brunsden and Mehreen Khan at The Financial Times report that
eurozone finance ministers have urged Italy to bow to Brussels'
calls to redraft a budget plan that breaks European spending
rules, brushing aside attempts by Rome to defend the fiscal
expansion as key to reviving the country's economy.

According to the FT, ministers called on Italy's populist
government on Nov. 5 to engage in talks with Brussels on a
revised draft budget for 2019, backing the European Commission's
view that the plans violate previous commitments by Rome to
shrink the deficit next year.

Mario Centeno, the president of the eurogroup, said ministers at
the meeting had called on Italy to "co-operate closely with the
commission in the preparation of a revised budgetary plan that is
in line with our fiscal rules", the FT relates.

The eurogroup also published a statement stressing the need for a
new spending plan, saying that "sufficient debt reduction" was an
"integral part" of the bloc's rules, the FT notes.

But Rome's populist government is standing firm ahead of a
November 13 deadline to rewrite the plans or escalate its stand-
off with Brussels, the FT discloses.

Giovanni Tria, Italy's finance minister, promised the budget
"will not change" and that there is "neither conflict nor
compromise" with the commission, the FT relays.

"There will be a constructive dialogue with the commission," the
FT quotes Mr. Tria as saying after the eurozone ministerial
meeting in Brussels.


=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================


INTERTRUST NV: Moody's Assigns Ba2 CFR, Outlook Stable
------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba2 corporate family
rating and Ba2-PD Probability of Default Rating (PDR) to
Intertrust N.V., the outlook is stable. Concurrently, Moody's has
assigned a Ba2 instrument rating to the EUR500 million senior
unsecured notes due 2025 to be issued by Intertrust Group B.V.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Ba2 CFR reflects Intertrust's: (i) clear leading market
position as the largest global provider in the fragmented Expert
Corporate & Fund Solutions industry; (ii) well diversified
customer base with long-standing relationships; (iii) high
revenue visibility due to longevity of structures with strong
cash conversion due to high margins and low capex, and; (iv)
positive market outlook underpinned by consolidation and a flight
to quality, creating higher barriers to entry.

The rating is constrained by Intertrust's (i) high exposure to
legal, reputational and regulatory risks, particularly global
corporate governance legislation and tax regulation, although
Moody's notes the company's stringent internal controls and lack
of appetite for risky tax structures; (ii) Moody's adjusted
debt/EBITDA of 3.9x which positions the Ba2 rating weakly in its
rating category, with de-leveraging potentially slow due to
Moody's expectation of some debt-funded M&A over time; (iii)
geographic concentration in Europe, particularly Netherlands and
Luxembourg, and; (iv) relatively small scale in a fragmented
market despite some leading market positions.

Liquidity Profile

Moody's considers Intertrust's liquidity to be good, based on (i)
strong operating cash flow which covers all planned needs
including extraordinary capex; (ii) around EUR84 million
beginning cash balance; (iii) a EUR150 million 5-year RCF with a
leverage covenant with reasonable headroom and; (iv) no debt
maturities until 2023.

Structural Considerations

Intertrust's capital structure comprises EUR500 million senior
unsecured notes due 2025 rated Ba2, as well as several pari passu
unrated loan facilities as follows: a USD200 million Term Loan A,
a GBP100 million Term Loan A, and a EUR150 million revolver all
due 2023.

Using Moody's Loss Given Default (LGD) methodology, the PDR is at
the same level as the CFR. This is based on a 50% recovery rate,
as is common with structures comprising bonds and loans. The
unsecured notes are rated Ba2 at the same level as the CFR due to
the unsecured, pari passu nature of the company's debt structure.

Rating outlook

The stable outlook reflects its expectation that EBITDA, cash
flow generation, and leverage will remain stable. It also assumes
no substantial adverse effects due to regulation, litigation or
tax and no material debt-funded acquisitions or shareholder
distributions.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UP/DOWN

Due to the rating currently being weakly positioned, Moody's does
not expect any upward pressure on the rating in the near term.
However this could occur over time if the company were to
significantly increase its scale, continue to diversify its
business, and achieve a reduction in Moody's adjusted leverage to
3x or below on a sustainable basis whilst maintaining a solid
liquidity profile.

Downward pressure in the rating could occur if (i) the conditions
for a stable outlook were not maintained; (ii) adjusted leverage
moves towards 4.5x; or if (iii) liquidity deteriorated.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and
Consumer Service Industry published in October 2016.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Intertrust is a global leader in in providing expert
administrative services to clients operating and investing
internationally. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has more
than 2,500 employees across 41 offices and 29 jurisdictions in
Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle-East.
Intertrust provides a comprehensive range of value-added services
and tailored solutions for funds, corporates, capital markets,
and private clients.

Intertrust generated revenues and company-adjusted EBITDA of
EUR485 million and EUR196 million respectively as of FY2017 and
is listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange with a market
capitalization of EUR 1.3 billion as of November 1, 2018.


===========
P O L A N D
===========


QUMAK SA: Warsaw Restructuring Court Issues Decision
----------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports that Qumak SA on Nov. 5 said it received the
decision of the Restructuring Court in Warsaw.

According to Reuters, the decision states that the criteria
chosen by the company for separating creditors covered by partial
arrangement in accelerated arrangement proceedings are not in
line with the law.

The decision says the criteria have not been accepted by the
court which at present makes opening accelerated arrangement
proceedings impossible, Reuters notes.

The company filed motion for accelerated arrangement proceedings
in October and subsequently filed motion for bankruptcy, Reuters
recounts.

Qumak S.A. is a Polish IT and technology company which designs
and implements ICT solutions for private clients and public
sector.


===========
R U S S I A
===========


INTERNATIONAL BANK OF SAINT-PETERSBURG: S&P Withdraws 'D/D' ICRs
----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings withdrew its 'D/D' (default) long- and short-
term issuer credit ratings on Russia-based International Bank of
Saint-Petersburg (IBSP).

The rating action follows the Central Bank of Russia's revocation
of IBSP's banking license on Oct. 31, 2018, based on IBSP's
failure to comply with federal laws and due to the decrease in
the bank's capital adequacy ratio below the minimum level of 2%
set by regulator. S&P understands that, following the banking
license withdrawal, the authorities will start the process of
settling the bank's obligations to creditors in accordance with
bankruptcy law. S&P has therefore withdrawn its ratings on IBSP.


RENAISSANCE CREDIT: S&P Raises Long-Term ICR to B, Outlook Stable
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings said that it had raised its long-term issuer
credit rating on Russia-based Commercial Bank Renaissance Credit
to 'B' from 'B-'. The outlook is stable. At the same time, S&P
affirmed its 'B' short-term issuer credit rating on the bank.

S&P said, "The upgrade of Renaissance Credit reflects our view
that the bank has improved and maintained its key asset quality
metrics over the past four years. We think that the bank's model
has become more resilient to potential economic shocks, thanks to
strengthened risk management practices and more sophisticated
client targeting.

"We note that credit losses and default rates on new vintages
have significantly declined since the beginning of 2015 on all
products provided by the bank, including general-purpose loans,
point of sale loans, and credit cards. For example, loans past
due more than 90 days at the 12-month horizon declined to 2.8%-
3.0% of the loan portfolio at mid-year 2016, and this ratio has
been stable since then compared with 7.5% at the beginning of
2015. Likewise, the first-payment default rate on general purpose
loans for existing customers has been 0.6%-0.8% since mid-year
2016 versus 2.1% at year-end 2015 and 10.7% at the beginning of
2014. Finally, net charge-offs fell to 4.9% of total loans at
mid-year 2018, versus 27.8% at year-end 2015.

"We note that the bank's asset quality and performance of its
retail portfolio are generally in line with those of most other
Russian banks specialized in unsecured retail lending. We believe
that part of this improvement tracks the overall performance of
the Russian economy. However, we also note significant
strengthening of its underwriting and collection practices, which
the bank's management has largely rebuilt after the bank incurred
huge losses in 2013-2015.

"Nevertheless, we think that the bank's risk position remains a
negative rating factor. This primarily reflects management's high
appetite for growth and the bank's focus on unsecured retail
lending. For 2017, the bank's loan portfolio increased by 34% and
for the first nine months of 2018, the bank further expanded its
loan book by about 20%. Although we expect that the growth rate
will likely moderate in 2019-2020, we nevertheless think that it
will remain above the sector average."

Over the past two years, the bank's earnings capacity has
significantly strengthened thanks to a progressive reduction of
credit losses, relatively high and stable margins, and good cost
controls. At mid-year 2018, the bank's return on average equity
(ROAE) remained above 20%. S&P expects that the bank will
maintain a solid earnings capacity over the next two years with
ROAE at 20%-25% and good capitalization with our risk-adjusted
capital (RAC) ratio gradually increasing to 8.0%-8.4%. This is
despite the expected high business growth and potential dividends
of 50% of net income starting from 2019.

S&P said, "In our view, Renaissance Credit's business position
remains moderate, reflecting its exclusive focus on the highly
competitive unsecured retail lending market in Russia, as well as
its relatively small market share. As a pure retail bank,
Renaissance Credit's performance remains sensitive to the
economic cycle, in our view.

"We maintain our view on the bank's funding as average, mainly
due to the predominance of granular retail deposits in its
funding base and funding metrics, which are generally comparable
with those of peers. We continue to assess the bank's liquidity
as adequate because of its sufficient liquidity buffer and
prudent liquidity management over the past five years.

"Renaissance Credit is ultimately controlled by Russian
businessman Mikhail Prokhorov. We positively note the support
that Mr. Prokhorov provided to the bank in 2014-2015, a period of
high credit losses. At the same time, we do not incorporate any
additional notches of support, because we already factor this
support in the bank's stand-alone credit profile.

"The stable outlook reflects our view that Renaissance Credit
will preserve its stable asset quality in the next 12-18 months,
with credit losses and a delinquency rate at least on par with
other retail banks in Russia. The stable outlook also reflects
our expectation that the bank's good earnings capacity, adequate
capital and liquidity buffers, and stable funding profile will
support its creditworthiness.

"We could lower the ratings in the next 12-18 months if we saw
that rapid lending growth or relaxation of the risk-management
practices was leading to significant deterioration of the bank's
key asset quality metrics with credit losses rising beyond our
expectations and beyond those of peers. Deterioration of the
bank's capital position with our RAC ratio falling below 5.0%,
for example, due to high growth, increasing credit losses, and
generous dividend payments, may prompt us to take a negative
rating action.

"A positive rating action is unlikely over the next 12-18 months,
in our view. Nevertheless, we could consider an upgrade if
Renaissance Credit significantly strengthens its capitalization,
for example as a combination of lower-than-expected growth and no
dividend payments over the forecast period, with our RAC ratio
remaining sustainably above 10%. This is not our base-case
scenario, though."



=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================


VERISURE MIDHOLDING: Moody's Affirms B2 CFR, Outlook Stable
-----------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the B2 corporate family
rating and B2-PD probability of default rating of Verisure
Midholding AB, a provider of monitored alarm solutions. The
rating agency has concurrently affirmed the Verisure Holding AB's
B1 ratings of the senior secured facilities, including the
EUR2,380 million term loan and the EUR300 million revolving
credit facility, the B1 rating of the EUR630 million senior
secured notes (to be repaid as part of the proposed refinancing),
and the Verisure's Caa1 ratings of the EUR980 million and
SEK1,650 million unsecured notes. Finally, Moody's has assigned
B1 ratings to the new EUR1,012 senior secured term loan and
senior secured notes (split to be confirmed during syndication)
at Verisure. The outlook on all ratings is stable.

The list of affected ratings is at the end of this press release.

The action follows the company's announcement that it plans to
raise new secured debt of EUR1,012 million in total and increase
the existing unsecured notes by EUR100 million to repay the
existing EUR630 million senior secured notes, repay EUR103
million drawn on the RCF, pay a dividend of EUR353 million, and
finance various transaction fees and expenses.

The action reflects the following interrelated drivers:

  - The company's leverage, as measured by Moody's-adjusted
debt/EBITDA, will increase to 7.5x pro forma for the proposed
dividend recapitalization from 6.9x as of September 30, 2018;

  - Moody's expects that the company will decrease leverage
towards 6.0x over the next 12-18 months based on the solid
organic growth rates and cost efficiencies;

  - Moody's-adjusted gross debt to recurring monthly revenue
(RMR) will increase to 43x from 40x, but expected to decrease to
below 40x within the next 12-18 months.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The B2 CFR of Verisure reflects the company's (1) high Moody's-
adjusted leverage of 7.5x or Moody's-adjusted gross debt to RMR
of 43x at September 2018 pro forma for the transaction; (2) free
cash flow after new subscriber cost remaining negative for at
least the next 12 months as a result of significant investment to
capture new subscribers; (3) high, although improving, geographic
concentration of revenue in Spain (around one-third of revenues);
(4) the potential long term threat from new entrants and existing
players; and (5) continued additional debt raises to finance
dividends and support customer acquisition growth.

More positively, the ratings reflects the company's (1) leading
position in the European residential home and small business
monitored alarms (RHSB) market, which has a lower rate of
adoption compared to the US, which offers a high organic revenue
growth potential; (2) stable and resilient business model, with
low cancellation rates; (3) solid track record of continuous
growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) and good deleveraging
prospects; (4) Moody's expectation of a gradual cash flow
improvement supported by maturing customer portfolio growth, low
churn rate and at least stable or improving payback period.

LIQUIDITY PROFILE

Moody's considers the company's liquidity position to be adequate
with a cash balance estimated to be at around EUR11 million pro
forma for the transaction and a EUR300 million RCF expected to be
undrawn at closing. Despite its expectation of limited free cash
flow generation in the near term, on a steady-state basis Moody's
expects some significant improvements over medium-term supported
by its low churn rate and cost saving measures. Moody's also
recognizes the company's ability to flex its customer acquisition
capex to provide further liquidity if required. In addition, the
company is expected to maintain good headroom under its single
portfolio net leverage springing covenant, only applicable when
the RCF is drawn above a certain threshold. There are no upcoming
debt maturities with the RCF due in 2021 and the senior secured
term loan and senior secured notes both due in 2022.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The B2-PD probability of default rating in line with the B2 CFR
reflects Moody's 50% corporate debt recovery assumption, which is
common for debt structures with bank debt and notes. The B1
ratings of the senior secured debt instruments reflect the loss
absorption cushion from the unsecured debt instruments rated
Caa1.

RATING OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation of sustained
deleveraging through EBITDA growth whilst cancellation rates and
customer acquisition costs remain stable. Moody's expects the
subscriber base to grow leading to improved cash flow on a
steady-state basis before growth in new subscribers. Moody's also
anticipates no further material debt-financed dividends.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE

Positive rating pressure could develop if Verisure reduces its
Moody's-adjusted gross debt to RMR below 35x and increases free
cash flow (before growth spending) to debt to 10%, with free cash
flow (after growth spending) becoming positive. It also assumes
at least stable cancellation rate and customer acquisition costs
and limited requirements for additional debt financing and
dividend payments.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE

Downward rating pressure could develop if the Moody's-adjusted
gross debt to RMR remains above a 42x level for a prolonged
period, steady-state generation trends towards zero, or if
liquidity concerns were to arise.

LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS:

Issuer: Verisure Midholding AB

Affirmations:

LT Corporate Family Rating, Affirmed B2

Probability of Default Rating, Affirmed B2-PD

BACKED Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture, Affirmed Caa1

Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture, Affirmed Caa1

Outlook Action:

Outlook, Remains Stable

Issuer: Verisure Holding AB

Affirmations:

Senior Secured Regular Bond/Debenture, Affirmed B1

Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility, Affirmed B1

Assignments:

Senior Secured Regular Bond/Debenture, Assigned B1

Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility, Assigned B1

Outlook Action:

Outlook, Remains Stable

METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and
Consumer Service Industry published in October 2016.

Headquartered in Versoix, Switzerland, Verisure is a leading
provider of monitored alarm solutions operating under the
Securitas Direct and Verisure brand names.


===========
T U R K E Y
===========


TURKEY: Houlihan Lokey Says Bad Bank May Give Relief to Lenders
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ercan Ersoy at Bloomberg News reports that Turkey could use a
so-called bad bank to provide relief to lenders hurt by the
soaring number of bankruptcies and restructurings, according to a
Houlihan Lokey executive.

"It allows liquidity to flow back to the banks and allows banks
to raise capital," Bloomberg quotes Joseph Julian, the advisory
firm's managing director and co-head of the Middle East, Turkey
and Africa, as saying in an interview in Istanbul.  "That
achieves a lot of things."

Turkey is already working on a number of options to tackle a
pile-up of bad loans, which rose by a fifth -- or US$13 billion
-- from May to September, Bloomberg discloses.  The crisis is
part of the fallout from the lira's plunge and the nation's
soaring interest rates, Bloomberg notes.

According to Bloomberg, Adnan Bali, chief executive of Turkiye Is
Bankasi AS, said on Sept. 26 the idea of a bad bank is being
discussed.


=============
U K R A I N E
=============


* UKRAINE: President Ready to Sign Code on Bankruptcy Procedures
----------------------------------------------------------------
Interfax-Ukraine reports that Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko has said he is ready to sign the Code on Bankruptcy
Procedures in the next few weeks.

"I want to thank the parliament that has recently adopted the
Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures.  It has not come to the
presidential administration yet, and I did not have an
opportunity to study it carefully, but I'll emphasize that if
everything goes as it was declared, I am going to sign it within
two weeks," Interfax-Ukraine quotes Mr. Poroshenko as saying at a
meeting with Ukrainian and foreign business representatives on
Oct. 31.

Mr. Poroshenko expressed confidence that this code is a
significant step to resolve the issue of restoring the payer's
solvency and ensuring efficient and fast bankruptcy procedures.


===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================


CASTELL 2018-1: DBRS Finalizes B (low) Rating on Class F Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings Limited finalized its provisional ratings of the
notes issued by Castell 2018-1 PLC as follows:

-- Class A rated AAA (sf)
-- Class B rated AA (low) (sf)
-- Class C rated A (low) (sf)
-- Class D rated BBB (high) (sf)
-- Class E rated BB (high) (sf)
-- Class F rated B (low) (sf) (together, the Rated Notes)

The Class X notes and Class Z notes are not rated.

Castell 2018- 1 Plc (the Issuer) is a bankruptcy-remote special-
purpose vehicle incorporated in the United Kingdom. The Rated
Notes will be used to fund the purchase of U.K. second-lien
mortgage loans originated by Optimum Credit Limited (Optimum
Credit or the Seller). Optimum Credit, established in November
2013, is a specialist provider of second-lien mortgages based in
Cardiff, Wales. The majority of loan originations are sourced
through brokers, all of whom have been regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority under the Mortgage Code of Conduct and Business
since March 2016. The originator is owned by Patron Capital
Partners, a Western European private equity real estate fund with
its main investment advisor, Patron Capital Advisers LLP, based
in London. On 5 October 2018, a sale and purchase agreement was
signed pursuant to which the entire issued share capital of
Optimum Holding S.A. will be sold to Pepper Money (PMB) Limited
(Pepper), subject to relevant regulatory approval.

The mortgage portfolio will be serviced by Optimum Credit with
Link Mortgage Services Limited in place as the back-up servicer.
Optimum Credit is considering delegating all servicing to Pepper
after closing of the sale. Intertrust Management Limited has been
appointed as a back-up servicer facilitator.

As of October 24, 2018, the portfolio consisted of 7,054 mortgage
loans with a total portfolio balance of GBP 311.4 million. The
average loan per borrower is GBP 44,138. The weighted-average
(WA) seasoning of the portfolio is 8.3 months with a WA remaining
term of 16.0 years. The WA current loan-to-value, inclusive of
any prior ranking balances of the portfolio, is 63.6%. Within the
portfolio, 66.5% of the loans are fixed-rate loans before
switching to floating rate upon completion of the initial fixed
period. The remainders are floating-rate loans for life. Interest
rate risk is expected to be hedged through a fixed-floating
balance guaranteed interest rate swap, with further support
provided by excess spread. Approximately 3.8% of the portfolio by
loan balance comprises loans originated to borrowers with a prior
County Court Judgment, and 0.9% of the borrowers are in arrears.

Credit enhancement for the Class A notes is 30.65% and is
provided by the subordination of the Class B notes to the Class Z
notes (excluding the uncollateralized Class X notes). The credit
enhancement includes an amortizing cash reserve fund that is
available to support the Class A to Class F notes. The cash
reserve will be fully funded at closing and is required to be
funded at the lower of 2.25% of the initial balance of the Class
A to the Class Z notes (excluding the Class X notes) or 4.0% of
the current balance of the Class A to the Class Z notes
(excluding the Class X notes). The cash reserve is replenished
subject to a floor of 1.0% of the Class A to Class Z notes
(excluding the Class X notes).

The Class A notes and the Class B notes benefit from further
liquidity support provided by an amortizing liquidity reserve,
which can support the payment of senior fees and interest on the
Class A and Class B notes. The liquidity reserve fund will be
unfunded at closing, with the required amount of 1.5% of the
outstanding balance of the Class A and B notes. Initially, the
liquidity reserve will be funded through principal receipts. Any
subsequent use of the liquidity reserve fund will be replenished
from revenue receipts. Principal receipts may be used to provide
liquidity support to payments of senior fees and interest on the
Class A and Class B notes subject to principal deficiency ledger
conditions.

The Issuer is expected to enter into a fixed-floating balance
guaranteed swap with NatWest Markets to mitigate the fixed
interest rate risk from the mortgage loans and the three-month
LIBOR payable on the notes. The fixed-floating swap documents
reflect DBRS's "Derivative Criteria for European Structured
Finance Transactions" methodology.

The Account Bank, Cash Manager, Principal Paying Agent, Agent
Bank and Registrar is Citibank N.A., London Branch. The DBRS
private rating of the Account Bank is consistent with the
threshold for the Account Bank outlined in DBRS's "Legal Criteria
for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology, given
the rating assigned to the Class A notes.

The ratings for all the Rated Notes address the timely payment of
interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal
final maturity date. DBRS based its ratings primarily on the
following analytical considerations:

   -- The transaction capital structure, form and sufficiency of
available credit enhancement and liquidity provisions.

   -- The credit quality of the mortgage loan portfolio and the
ability of the servicer to perform collection activities. DBRS
calculated portfolio default rates (PD), loss given default (LGD)
and expected loss (EL) outputs on the mortgage loan portfolio.

   -- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash
flow assumptions and repays the Rated Notes according to the
terms of the transaction documents. The transaction cash flows
were analyzed using PD and LGD outputs provided by the European
RMBS Insight Model. Transaction cash flows were analyzed using
INTEX Dealmaker.

   -- The structural mitigants in place to avoid potential
payment disruptions caused by operational risk, such as downgrade
and replacement language in the transaction documents.

   -- The transaction's ability to withstand stressed cash flow
assumptions and repay investors in accordance with the terms and
conditions of the notes.

   -- The consistency of the legal structure with DBRS's "Legal
Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions"
methodology and the presence of legal opinions that address the
assignment of the assets to the Issuer.

Notes: All figures are in British pound sterling unless otherwise
noted.


CO-OPERATIVE BANK: Posts Further Losses Year Following Rescue
-------------------------------------------------------------
Iain Withers at The Telegraph reports that The Co-operative Bank
has posted further losses more than a year after it was rescued
from the brink of collapse by a group of US hedge funds.

According to The Telegraph, the lender -- which is trying to
rebuild after years of poor trading and scandals -- reported a
pre-tax loss of GBP87 million for the first nine months of the
year, a slight improvement on a GBP107.7 million loss for the
same period the previous year.

However, it also posted its first operating profit in five years
of GBP14.3 million for the period, compared to a GBP25.3 million
loss the previous year, The Telegraph discloses.  The figure
strips out one-off costs, and was boosted in part thanks to a
resurgent mortgages business and lower costs, The Telegraph
notes.

                      About Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the
United Kingdom, with its headquarters in Balloon Street,
Manchester.

In 2013-2014, the Bank was the subject of a rescue plan to
address a capital shortfall of about GBP1.9 billion.  The Bank
mostly raised equity to cover the shortfall from hedge funds.

In February 2017, the Bank's board announced that they were
commencing a sale process for the Bank and were "inviting
offers."

The Troubled Company Reporter-Europe reported on Aug. 17, 2018,
that Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) upgraded the standalone
baseline credit assessment (BCA) and the long-term deposit rating
of The Co-operative Bank Plc to caa1 from caa2 and to Caa1 from
Caa2 respectively. The outlook on the long-term deposit ratings
has been changed to stable from positive.

The upgrade of The Co-operative Bank's BCA to caa1 from caa2
reflects the bank's improvements in asset risk and higher
capitalisation, which are counterbalanced by persistent losses
and very high operational risk.

The Co-operative Bank's stock of problem loans has materially
reduced; in December 2017 they accounted for 2.4% of gross loans,
down from the 11% peak in 2012.  The reduction has been mainly
driven by very large disposals made by the bank.  In particular,
a very weak residential mortgage portfolio, known as "Optimum",
fell to less than GBP0.6 billion in December 2017 from its peak
of GBP7.3 billion in 2013.


DEBENHAMS PLC: S&P Cuts Issuer Credit Rating to B-, Outlook Neg.
----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings said that it lowered its long-term issuer
credit rating on U.K. department store retailer Debenhams PLC to
'B-' from 'B'. The outlook remains negative.

S&P said, "At the same time, we lowered our long-term issue
rating on the GBP225 million senior unsecured notes (of which
GBP200 million remain outstanding) to 'B-' from 'B', in line with
the issuer credit rating. The recovery rating on these notes is
unchanged at '3', reflecting our expectation of average recovery
(50%-70%; rounded estimate: 60%) in the event of default."

The downgrade follows Debenhams' announcement of its preliminary
results for the financial year (FY) ending Sept. 1, 2018, in
which it confirmed that trade credit insurers had reduced their
cover for suppliers. At the same time, the group announced plans
to accelerate the closure of up to 50 stores over the next five
years and reduce costs by a further GBP80 million by FY2020 as
part of its turnaround plan.

S&P said, "The downgrade reflects our view that although on a
cash flow basis, the results were broadly in line with our
expectations, we think that Debenhams' operating performance and
cash flow generation prospects are now weaker than we had
previously anticipated and more volatile in the context of its
high lease-adjusted leverage.

"Against the backdrop of challenging trading conditions in the
U.K. -- exacerbated by the increasing possibility of a 'hard'
Brexit, and significant transformational measures underway at
Debenhams, we believe that earnings are unlikely to recover to
the levels we had previously forecast, constraining reported free
operating cash flow (FOCF) generation in FY2019 and FY2020. We
believe that trading conditions for discretionary goods retailers
in the U.K. will remain extremely challenging through the second
half of 2018 and into early 2019, as consumer confidence remains
low.

"This leaves Debenhams with less financial flexibility to absorb
any further material operating or financial setbacks, including a
material tightening of trade creditor terms or an inability to
restore operating earnings to historical levels, in our opinion.
A weakening of sentiment among the industry's suppliers and
consumers following the recent administration filing of one of
Debenhams' main competitors--House of Fraser--compounds these
risks, in our opinion.

"We understand from management that Debenhams has not materially
revised the payment terms with its suppliers so far. This, along
with the group's commitment to reduce capital expenditure (capex)
to GBP70 million and cease dividends, is supportive of the
group's liquidity position and our forecast of positive FOCF
generation of at least GBP10 million in FY2019.

In S&P's base case, it assumes:

-- Macroeconomic factors that influence discretionary goods
    retailers' performance, in addition to real GDP growth, such
    as consumer confidence and consumption patterns, inflation,
    discretionary income, and the unemployment rate. S&P's
    assumptions for Debenhams reflect economic scenarios for the
     U.K., Ireland, and Denmark, the countries from which the
     group generates the vast majority of its earnings.

-- Moderate U.K. real GDP growth of 1.2% in calendar year 2018
     and 1.4% in calendar year 2019, along with a reduction in
     real consumption growth -- to 1.1% in both 2018 and 2019 --
     as households continue to reduce their spending in light of
     the uncertain economic outlook. We expect U.K. consumer price
     inflation of 2.5% in 2018 and 1.9% in 2019 -- compared with
     2.7% last year.

-- Continued overall underperformance in the U.K. discretionary
     retail sector in 2018 and 2019 relative to nominal
     consumption growth, reflecting the continued weakening of
     consumer confidence.

-- Further modest 3%-4% declines in statutory revenues in FY2019
    as growth in online and international sales fails to offset
    the decline in U.K. store sales. S&P expects that the group's
    topline will continue to decline in the medium term as it
     closes stores. A pickup in reported EBITDA and margins in
     both FY2019 and FY2020 as the group's strategic and cost-
     saving initiatives bear fruit and exceptional expenses
     reduce.

-- Working capital outflows of up to GBP30 million, equivalent
     to around 5%-10% of Debenhams' typical year-end trade
     creditors balance. This assumes materially less favorable
     supplier terms than those guided by management.

-- Capex of GBP65 million-GBP75 million in FY2019, as management
    looks to preserve cash in light of recent competitive
    pressures. S&P expects capex to increase in FY2019 toward
    GBP90 million as the group's spending begins to normalize.

-- No further dividends.

-- S&P does not include the potential sale of Magasin du Nord in
    Its forecast.

-- No material repurchases of the group's own debt in the
    capital markets.

Based on these assumptions, S&P arrives at the following credit
measures:

-- Adjusted EBITDA of GBP310 million-GBP340 million in both
    FY2019 and FY2020 (compared with the GBP280 million S&P
    expects for FY2018 once the results are finalized). These
    figures correspond to reported EBITDA, after exceptional
    expenses, of about GBP130 million-GBP140 million in both
    FY2018 and FY2019.

-- Adjusted debt to EBITDA of 7.5x-8.0x in FY2019 and FY2020,
    about 1x higher than in our previous forecast, although less
    than nearly 10.0x in FY2018. S&P expects modest deleveraging
    toward 7.0x by FY2021.

-- Adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt of 4%-7% in both
    FY2019 and FY2020.

-- Reported FOCF of about GBP10 million in FY2019 and FY2020.
     S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDAR coverage (defined as
     reported EBITDA after exceptional expenses and before rent,
     over cash interest plus rent) of about 1.5x in both FY2019
     and FY2020.

S&P said, "Although we expect that Debenhams' sources of
liquidity will exceed its uses by around 1.4x in the 12 months
from Sept. 1, 2018, we now view Debenhams' liquidity position as
less than adequate. We have revised our assessment downward to
reflect the increasing possibility of a material weakening of
terms with Debenhams' trade creditors, a high-impact event that
we believe the group would be unlikely to be able to absorb given
its high adjusted leverage and the seasonality of its business
model.

"Should working capital pressures escalate beyond what we already
forecast, Debenhams' liquidity position could deteriorate
rapidly. For example, our forecast of a peak working capital
outflow in the next 12 months of up to GBP110 million represents
less than one-third of Debenhams' outstanding trade creditors
balance as of Sept. 1, 2018. That said, we understand from
management that the group has not materially revised payment
terms with its suppliers so far."

That said, Debenhams' liquidity position is supported by the
substantial size of its revolving credit facility (RCF), modest
cash interest expenses, meaningful covenant headroom, and the
absence of near-term debt maturities. The group has the option to
extend the maturity date of its RCF by one year, to June 2021.

S&P estimates that principal sources of liquidity over the 12
months from Sept. 1, 2018, include:

-- Cash on balance sheet of GBP43 million, net of about GBP15
    million that it considers trapped in tills or in transit and
    therefore not immediately accessible;

-- Remaining undrawn availability under the RCF of nearly GBP160
    million; and

-- S&P's forecast of cash FFO generation of GBP100 million-
    GBP120 million.

S&P estimates that principal uses of liquidity over the same
period include:

-- Non-seasonal working capital funding requirements of up to
    GBP30 million, equivalent to around 5%-10% of Debenhams
    typical year-end trade creditors balance;

-- Seasonal peak working capital outflows of up to GBP110
    million; and

-- Maintenance capex of GBP70 million.

S&P said, "We expect Debenhams to maintain meaningful covenant
headroom -- on a pre-exceptional EBITDA basis -- of 15%-30% over
the next 12 months following the July 2018 renegotiation of the
test level for its fixed-charge coverage covenant.

"The negative outlook reflects our opinion that extreme
competitive pressures and weak demand for discretionary goods
will continue to suppress Debenhams' earnings and lead to higher
volatility in its cash flows and liquidity, particularly in light
of potential stresses on working capital. The outlook also
reflects the decreasing probability that the group will be able
to deliver material reported FOCF from FY2019, reducing its
ability to withstand further operating or financial setbacks.

"We could lower the ratings in the next 12 months if we thought
that Debenhams' liquidity position had weakened due to, for
example, an inability to improve its earnings or a material
change in payment terms with its suppliers such that cash
outflows exceed our current expectations.

"We could also lower the ratings if we believed that Debenhams'
capital structure had become unsustainable due to the group's
inability to improve profitability, causing leverage to
persistently creep up or its EBITDAR coverage to weaken further
to around 1.2x. Likewise, we could downgrade Debenhams if we
thought the likelihood of the group launching a Company Voluntary
Agreement or buying back portions of its bonds had increased.

"We could revise the outlook back to stable in the next 12 months
if Debenhams restored its reported FOCF such that it were
substantially and consistently positive, thereby enhancing
liquidity or allowing for debt reduction."

An outlook revision to stable would also be contingent on
Debenhams maintaining a robust competitive standing and
continuing to sustainably grow its earnings base, thereby
supporting deleveraging from currently elevated levels, while
keeping its EBITDAR coverage ratio consistently above 1.5x.

S&P would also expect Debenhams' financial policy to remain
focused on maintaining sustainably lower leverage, supporting
both future cash generation and a full and orderly refinancing
well in advance of its 2020 and 2021 debt maturities.


INSPIRED EDUCATION: S&P Assigns Prelim 'B' ICR, Outlook Stable
--------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned its preliminary 'B' long-term issuer
credit rating to U.K.-registered K-12 operator Inspired Education
Holdings Ltd. The outlook is stable.

We also assigned our preliminary 'B' issue rating to the proposed
EUR450 million term loan B to be issued by Inspired's 100%-owned
subsidiary, Inspired Finco Holdings Ltd. The preliminary '3'
recovery rating indicates our expectation of 50% recovery
prospects in the event of a payment default.

The final issuer and issue ratings will depend upon:

-- S&P's receipt and satisfactory review of all final issuance
    documentation;

-- Confirmation of the final structure, including the currencies
    in which the facility will be drawn;

-- Successful completion of the ACG Education acquisition; and

-- S&P's receipt and satisfactory review of the audited
     financial statement of Inspired Education Holding Ltd. for
     fiscal 2018 (ended Aug. 31, 2018).

Accordingly, the preliminary ratings should not be construed as
evidence of the final ratings. If S&P Global Ratings does not
receive final documentation within a reasonable time frame, or if
final documentation departs from materials reviewed, or if ACG
acquisition is not completed, it reserves the right to withdraw
or revise its ratings.

Inspired consists of a network of 43 privately funded K-12
schools, spread across 17 countries (including recently completed
or announced acquisitions). Although the company in the current
structure was set up in October 2016, all of the schools have
existed for over 20 years. The K-12 sector (that is, kindergarten
through grade 12) represents the sum of primary and secondary
education in several countries. An increase in the wealth of
middle-class families in various countries has enabled this class
of parents to pursue the best education for their children. Key
factors parents consider in selecting a school include the
school's brand and reputation, quality of the teaching staff,
facilities and activities, and academic results relative to other
schools within the same catchment area.

Inspired operates through brands such as Reddam, Reddford, and
International School of Europe, as well as ACG (post
acquisition). Pro forma the acquisition of ACG Education -- a
New Zealand-based K-12 operator operating in three countries
through seven schools and two early years schools -- we
understand that, for fiscal year 2018, the group had a total
capacity of about 43,000 students, enrollment of about 30,500
students, and total revenue of about EUR340 million. The ACG
acquisition supports management's strategy to reduce its
concentration to one or a few specific countries and allow access
to markets such as New Zealand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, where it
had no presence. Additionally, ACG Education reports an EBITDA
margin of close to 40% while operating with 50% occupancy rates,
and represents a good addition to Inspired's network of schools.

Inspired faces the challenges of operating in a highly fragmented
market, and competition depends on local dynamics. S&P estimates
that the company's share of the private education market remains
in the low single digits. Competition could intensify in certain
regions since new local education providers with access to
capital could enter the market, attracted by the high margins,
good earnings visibility, and strong industry growth.

However, these weaknesses are somewhat offset by Inspired's good
earnings visibility, supported by the group's average student
tenure length of about eight years, geographic diversity, ability
to achieve above-inflation fee increases each year, track record
of successfully completing greenfield projects, and acquisition
of schools that fit its ethos and standards. High revenue
visibility stems from the confirmation of total enrolments and
practice of effecting a price increase at the beginning of each
academic year. K-12 businesses benefit from working capital
movements because the schools collect fees at the start of each
term, while staff expenses and other operating expenses are paid
in arrears.

S&P said, "We view Inspired's business model and competitive
position as comparable with those of other rated K-12 operators,
such as Bach Finance Ltd. (trading as Nord Anglia) and Cognita.
However, we consider Nord Anglia's competitive position to be
relatively better, on account of its larger scale (about $950
million of revenues), higher revenue per student, and better
adjusted EBITDA margins of about 31%. Yet Inspired has lower
exposure to expat students and the potential to improve margins
from acquisitions it has completed over the past few years.

"Compared with peers, Inspired has higher exposure to emerging
markets, where we calculate the group will generate about 46% of
its revenues. We consider those countries to be either moderately
high risk or high risk, reflecting the underlying economic and
institutional risks of operating there. Nevertheless, the demand
for good-quality international education is quite high in
emerging markets, owing to the increased disposable income among
middle-class families and the schools' primary focus on local
students rather than expat students. Moreover, the group
generates higher margins in those countries than in Europe.

"Inspired is effectively controlled by Nadim Nsouli; therefore we
do not consider it to be owned by a financial sponsor, despite
the minority stake of some firms that we typically consider to be
financial sponsors. However, we believe the likelihood of
consolidation and expansion activities within this sector to be
very high, since the current players continue to build scale in
the fragmented market. Consequently, we think that Inspired will
seek to expand through inorganic means. We will observe how
financially aggressive Inspire intends to become to achieve this
growth. We consider Inspired's planned acquisition of ACG
Education to be a one-off transaction, which will be partly
funded by new equity. On an ongoing basis, we expect Inspired to
undertake single school acquisitions.

"Because of increased enrolment in Inspired's greenfield projects
(particularly in Italy and South Africa) through fiscal year
2019, we calculate the group's adjusted leverage will improve to
6.3x by the end of fiscal year 2019 from 7.2x after the ACG
acquisition. We calculate the group's adjusted debt at the close
of this transaction will be about EUR650 million, comprising the
EUR450 million term loan B, EUR15 million of rolled-over debt,
deferred consideration of about EUR20 million, and an operating
lease adjustment of about EUR225 million, offset by a surplus
cash adjustment of about EUR60 million.

"Rather than an operating risk, we consider exposure to emerging
countries to be a financial risk for Inspired, since volatility
of foreign exchange rates relative to the euro will affect the
group's credit metrics because the pro forma debt is largely
denominated in euros. The group doesn't plan to hedge its EBITDA
earnings from emerging markets, and will focus on reducing
exposure to those countries by diversifying into stable markets.
However, compared with Nord Anglia and Cognita (where we
calculate S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt to EBITDA at 9x-10x
for the next 18 months), Inspired will have lower leverage to
start with, and therefore has headroom under our rating to manage
the risk of foreign currency volatility.

"The stable outlook reflects our view that Inspired's average
student tenure of about eight years, and its ability to achieve
above-inflation fee increases, provide strong revenue visibility
and cash flow generation potential. Additionally, we expect the
acquisition of the higher-margin ACG Education, along with an
improving utilization rate for its schools, will enable the group
to reduce leverage toward 6.0x in fiscal year 2019 and maintain
sound free operating cash flow generation. We also assume the
group will pursue acquisitions and greenfield projects in a
financially conservative manner.

"We could consider a negative rating action over the next 12
months if the group's credit metrics were to deteriorate
materially, such that the S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt to
EBITDA ratio increases above 7.5x, alongside sustained, negative
free operating cash flow and weakening liquidity. Such a scenario
could result from a significant deterioration in operating
performance, unfavorable movements of foreign exchange rates in
key markets (including South Africa, Bahrain, and New Zealand),
material debt-financed acquisitions or greenfield projects,
shareholder distributions, or an event that tarnished the group's
global brand.

"We could raise the rating if Inspired demonstrated a track
record of prudent financial policy regarding acquisitions,
greenfield projects, and shareholder distributions, and achieved
an adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 5.0x, while
generating materially positive free operating cash flow on a
sustainable basis. Such a scenario will be supported by higher-
than-expected growth of utilization rates combined with an
improvement in adjusted margins beyond our expectations."


JAGUAR LAND: S&P Places 'BB' Long-Term ICR on Watch Negative
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings placed its 'BB' long-term issuer credit rating
on Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC (JLR) on CreditWatch with
negative implications.

At the same time, S&P placed its 'BB' ratings on JLR's senior
unsecured debt on CreditWatch negative.

The first six months of JLR's fiscal year 2019 (which ends on
March 31, 2019) proved challenging overall for the U.K. premium
car manufacturer. Retail sales, including vehicles sold by its
Chinese joint venture, were down 4.1%. JLR suffered in China and
Continental Europe, but performed relatively well in the U.K.
although the latter was the weakest market in Europe, down 7.5%
for the first nine months of 2018, according to LMC. The group
posted moderate growth in the U.S. market, which has outperformed
S&P's expectations so far this year.

JLR's generally weak performance represents a material deviation
from our base-case assumptions, which include average low-single-
digit volume growth in fiscal 2019. In addition, although JLR has
already undertaken some destocking to balance supply and demand
in response to market conditions, inventories remain above
targeted levels, resulting in potential pricing pressure and
lower production in the second half of the year.

S&P said, "In the meantime, we have revised down our forecasts
for global light-vehicle sales in one of JLR's main markets,
namely China (unchanged in Europe), while maintaining our
assumption of a flat or slightly declining U.S. market. Also, in
2018 we've observed emerging risks to which JLR is particularly
exposed, in our opinion, namely the threat of an escalating trade
war between the U.S. and Europe, and the increasing likelihood of
a disruptive Brexit. While the outcome of the Brexit negotiations
remains highly uncertain, we believe this is a unique risk for
JLR relative to its main peers, owing to the group's reliance on
the U.K. market for approximately one-fifth of its production.
The financial impact of JLR's potential Brexit contingency plans
is not yet fully reflected in our base case.

"The combination of these factors makes a recovery of JLR's
metrics in the second half of fiscal year 2019 unlikely, in our
view. We believe these risks imply higher-than-expected negative
free cash flow generation, which if not addressed, would erode
JLR's financial risk profile. In addition, we believe that JLR's
flexibility on capital expenditure and research and development
costs is limited, owing to its need to quickly extend
electrification models to its entire model line-up.

"We aim to resolve the CreditWatch over the next 90 days, once we
have analyzed the possible impact of management's measures to
address JLR's weak performance and the potential deterioration of
its financial structure. At the same time, we expect to have
greater clarity on the financial impact of plans the group may
put in place to mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

"We could lower the ratings by at least one notch if we assess
that the probability of an immediate turnaround in JLR's
performance is low, resulting in adjusted funds from operations
(FFO) to debt for the group (including Tata Motors) of well below
25% for fiscal years 2019 and 2020.

"We could affirm the ratings if Tata Motors provides a credible
plan to contain its free operating cash flows, such that FFO to
debt ratio remains above 25% on a sustainable basis."



                            *********

Monday's edition of the TCR delivers a list of indicative prices
for bond issues that reportedly trade well below par.  Prices are
obtained by TCR editors from a variety of outside sources during
the prior week we think are reliable.  Those sources may not,
however, be complete or accurate.  The Monday Bond Pricing table
is compiled on the Friday prior to publication.  Prices reported
are not intended to reflect actual trades.  Prices for actual
trades are probably different.  Our objective is to share
information, not make markets in publicly traded securities.
Nothing in the TCR constitutes an offer or solicitation to buy or
sell any security of any kind.  It is likely that some entity
affiliated with a TCR editor holds some position in the issuers'
public debt and equity securities about which we report.

Each Tuesday edition of the TCR contains a list of companies with
insolvent balance sheets whose shares trade higher than US$3 per
share in public markets.  At first glance, this list may look
like the definitive compilation of stocks that are ideal to sell
short.  Don't be fooled.  Assets, for example, reported at
historical cost net of depreciation may understate the true value
of a firm's assets.  A company may establish reserves on its
balance sheet for liabilities that may never materialize.  The
prices at which equity securities trade in public market are
determined by more than a balance sheet solvency test.

Each Friday's edition of the TCR includes a review about a book
of interest to troubled company professionals.  All titles are
available at your local bookstore or through Amazon.com.  Go to
http://www.bankrupt.com/booksto order any title today.


                            *********


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA.
Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante,
Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman,
Editors.

Copyright 2018.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
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