We evaluate the viability of credit default swaps (CDS) spreads as substitutes for credit ratings. We focus on CDS spreads based on the obligations of financial institutions, particularly fifteen large financial institutions that were prominently involved in the recent financial crisis. Our...

There has been heated debate regarding credit-rating agencies' (CRAs') reporting accuracy of corporate credit ratings, which is essential for investors because they rely on those crediting ratings to make investment decisions. We estimate the reporting accuracy using the data on corporate...