We examine the relative impact of Moody's and S&P ratings on bond yields and find that at issuance, yields on split rated bonds with superior Moody's ratings are about 8 basis points lower than yields on split rated bonds with superior S&P ratings. This suggests that investors differentiate...

We investigate how shocks to the reputation of credit rating agencies and the subsequent introduction of stricter regulation affect investors' reaction to rating signals. We focus on three major episodes of reputational distress: The Enron/WorldCom scandals, the subprime crisis and the lawsuit...

We test the hypothesis that financial institutions and other regulated institutional investors benefit from relatively uninformative credit ratings. Using credit ratings without regulatory implications as a benchmark, we show that Moody's certifies riskier bonds as investment grade. This...

This paper examines how the incumbent issuer-pay credit rating agencies (CRAs) in China adjust their rating strategies as a response to the entry of an independent rating agency, China Bond Rating (CBR), which utilizes a combination of public utility and investor-pay business model. We find that...

Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 eliminated a Regulation Fair Disclosure rule, which allowed U.S. public companies to make selective disclosures to credit rating agencies (CRAs). However, CRAs and legal experts argue that given the other provisions in Regulation Fair Disclosure, which allow companies to...

This paper compares the behavior of standard or issuer-paid rating agencies (represented by Standard & Poor's, S&P) to alternative or investor-paid rating agencies (represented by the Egan and Jones Rating company, EJR) after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. Results show that both S&P and EJR...

We re-examine rating shopping and catering among CDOs by replicating a portion of Griffin, Nickerson, and Tang (2013) using post-crisis data. Our results are consistent with continued rating shopping and diminished rating catering behavior after the great financial crisis

This study develops and evaluates a model that generates synthetic credit ratings using accounting and market based information. The model performs very well in explaining agency ratings, suggesting that fitted values for unrated companies are likely to be reasonably precise. In addition, the...

We examine the readability, length, numerical content, uncertainty, and uniqueness of Moody’s rating reports. We analyze which factors affect the content of ratings in the cross-section and how regulatory events influence these measures over time. Rating content depends on analyst fixed...

In this paper, we examine the role of information sharing and borrower legal rights in affecting the procyclical effect of bank loan loss provisions. Based on a sample of Asian banks, our empirical results highlight that higher non-discretionary provisions reduce loan growth and hence,...