We study the information content of about 3,300 global bank rating changes before and after the Lehman shock in September 2008 from an equity investor's perspective. Based on a multi-model event study approach, we find that while upgrades are not associated with significant abnormal bank stock...

In this paper, to begin with, we define soft information as qualitative, subjective information produced by banks through the establishment of long-term lending relationships. We then highlight the importance of soft information for cooperative and social banks in the screening, pricing and...

If other things be constant, more extensive and timely disclosure should result in more accurate evaluation of firm's risks. However, there is a lack of research that investigates how effective various reforms in disclosure regulation is in terms of evaluating corporate risks. This lack of...

Credit rating has an outstanding importance on the capital market. Opinions and assessments of rating agencies help us to improve growth, stability and efficiency of international and domestic markets, which now include over 80 trillion dollars of rated bonds and other securities with the fixed...

This paper aims to address different monetary regimes in SEE countries and its performances regarding financial stability in the context of the current financial crisis. SEE countries seem to have been more pre-crisis vulnerable to financial and real shocks. Five countries are observed in this...

We employ a unique dataset of 6,669 credit assessments for 3,542 small businesses by nine banks using an identical rating model over the period 2006-2011 to examine (i) to what extent loan officers use their discretion to smooth credit ratings of their clients, and (ii) to assess whether this...

We investigate whether the spread of corporate debt contacts can be explained by their ultimate recovery rates. Using the actual realized recovery rates of defaulted debt instruments issued in the US from 1962 to 2007, we find that recovery rate is reflected in the spread at issuance, and that...

Two very large companies, Moody's and Standard & Poor's, dominate the credit-rating industry. These two companies own around 80 per cent of the market. No other significant major competitors exist, though there are companies that rate local securities in places like China and India. In India,...

Consistent with existing evidence based on US firms, we show that good governance is associated with higher credit ratings. The most significant variables are institutional ownership and disclosure quality. This finding suggests that active monitoring (by large shareholders) and lower...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential effectiveness of government reforms aimed at improving the accuracy of ratings issued by credit ratings agencies in US financial markets. Design/methodology/approach – The paper identifies unconscious bias as a source of...