Fitch Ratings-London/Frankfurt-01 April 2010: Fitch Ratings has today upgraded Dresdner Funding Trust IV's silent participation certificates to 'A' from 'CCC' and removed the Rating Watch Negative (RWN) on the instrument.
The upgrade follows changes in the certificates' terms and conditions made by Germany-based parent Commerzbank AG (Commerzbank, rated A+/Stable/F1+).
In Fitch's opinion, such changes are rare. In agreement with the investor base, the previous coupon deferral triggers have been removed and the subordination of the instrument has been altered from hybrid Tier 1 capital to lower Tier 2 capital. The agency understands that this instrument now does not have either any coupon deferral option or any loss absorption capacity as a going concern, but only - like other lower Tier 2 instruments - in the case of a liquidation of the bank. It now ranks pari passu with other lower Tier 2 instruments of the bank. As a result, Fitch no longer assigns any equity credit to this issue.
Applicable criteria "Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria", dated 29 December 2009, "Rating Hybrid Securities", dated 29 December 2009, and "Equity Credit for Hybrids & Other Capital Securities", dated 29 December 2009, are available at www.fitchratings.com.
Contacts: Michael Steinbarth, London, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7682 7468; Simone Brehmer, Frankfurt, Tel: +49 69 768076263.
Media Relations: Christian Giesen, Frankfurt am Main, Tel: + 49 (0) 69 7680 762 32, Email: christian.giesen@fitchratings.com; Hannah Warrington, London, Tel: +44 (0) 207 417 6298, Email: hannah.warrington@fitchratings.com.
Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.
Related Research: Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteriahttp://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=493146Rating Hybrid Securitieshttp://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=493086Equity Credit for Hybrids & Other Capital Securities - Amendedhttp://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=493112
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