[...]To explore these questions, we present the firstsystematic analysis of the determinants and impact of thesovereign credit ratings assigned by the two leading U.S.agencies, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard andPoor’s.1 Such an analysis has only recently become possibleas a result of...

We analyse a survey of 200 plan sponsors and investment managers in the US and Europe regarding the use of credit rating guidelines in the conduct of their investment activities. We find that ratings-based guidelines are widespread, but their forms and motivations vary considerably. The usage of...

Rating agency default studies provide estimates of mean default rates over multiple time horizons but have never included estimates of the standard errors of the estimates. This is due at least in part to the challenge of accounting for the high degree of correlation induced by their...

Sovereign ratings are gaining importance as more governments with greater default risk borrow in international bond markets. But while the ratings have proved useful to governments seeking market access, the difficulty of assessing sovereign risk has led to agency disagreements and public...

Many market participants, including investors, issuers, and regulators, have a strong preference for corporate bond ratings that are not only accurate but also stable. They want ratings to reflect enduring changes in credit risk, because rating changes can have real consequences - due primarily...

This paper explores the determinants of recovery rates on defaulted loans and bonds for North American corporate issuers over a period of 21 years (1983-2003). The variables it examines include seniority, security, type of initial default event, and a wide variety of firm-specific,...

Although issuers often receive a wide variety of benefits from securitization, many commonly used securitization structures fail to transfer meaningful amounts of credit risk. Some structures, however, transfer more risk than others. This Rating Methodology presents an analytical approach that...