Articles Index

Rating Agency Reforms
Rating agencies are drawing increasing criticism for the quality of their work, which has led to frequent calls for reform of their practices. Some of these reforms have been mandated by regulatory bodies.

Rating Agencies
Credit rating agencies are key players in the financial markets, assessing the ability of corporate and governmental borrowers to incur and service debt, and the interest rate cost that they face. They are major employers and trainers of people in the field of securities research and securities analysis.

A.M. Best
A.M. Best has been rating insurance companies since 1899, and is a respected source of information on the industry. It recently has expanded modestly abroad, and into rating smaller banks and health care systems.

Fitch
Fitch is the third leading international ratings agency. Its particular areas of expertise and focus are in banks, insurance companies, derivatives and structured finance.

Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's (also Standard and Poor's, or simply S&P) is the leading international ratings agency, covering both debt and equities issues. It is a major training ground for professionals in securities research.

Moody's
Moody's is one of the three leading international ratings agencies, and the category leader in rating municipal bonds. It is a respected training ground for people in securities research.