Do Credit Ratings Move Toward The Market, Or Vice Versa?

There are many different gauges of credit risk that investors can use to inform their decisions. Credit rating agencies have produced measures of credit risk for many decades, but financial markets also offer a guide to these risks. The authors examine the behavior of ratings relative to market signals on credit risk. In particular, the authors examine what happens when ratings and market signals differ, in terms of any subsequent convergence (or not). They find that, on average, market signals move more frequently toward ratings than vice versa. In terms of the magnitude of these movements, however, the picture is less clear. When market signals suggest lower credit risk than ratings do, they tend to close more of the gap; when ratings are higher than market signals, however, sometimes ratings close the gap more.

Author(s):  
Boudewijn de Bruin

This chapter argues for deregulation of the credit-rating market. Credit-rating agencies are supposed to contribute to the informational needs of investors trading bonds. They provide ratings of debt issued by corporations and governments, as well as of structured debt instruments (e.g. mortgage-backed securities). As many academics, regulators, and commentators have pointed out, the ratings of structured instruments turned out to be highly inaccurate, and, as a result, they have argued for tighter regulation of the industry. This chapter shows, however, that the role of credit-rating agencies in achieving justice in finance is not as great as these commentators believe. It therefore argues instead for deregulation. Since the 1930s, lawgivers have unjustifiably elevated the rating agencies into official, legally binding sources of information concerning credit risk, thereby unjustifiably causing many institutional investors to outsource their epistemic responsibilities, that is, their responsibility to investigate credit risk themselves.


Equilibrium ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-438
Author(s):  
Łukasz Dopierała ◽  
Daria Ilczuk ◽  
Liwiusz Wojciechowski

Research background: Sovereign credit ratings play an important role in determining any country’s access to the international debt market. During the global financial crisis and the European debt crisis, credit rating agencies were harshly criticized for the timing of their announcements regarding ratings downgrades and the ranges of those downgrades. Therefore, it is worth considering whether the sovereign credit rating is still a useful benchmark for investors. Purpose of the article: This article examines whether credit rating agencies still provide financial markets with new information about the solvency of governments in Emerging Europe countries. In addition, it describes the differences in the effect of particular types of rating events on financial markets and the impact of individual agencies on the market situation. Our study also focuses on evaluating these occurrences at different stages of the business cycle. Methods: This article uses data about ratings events that took place between 2008 and 2018 in 17 Emerging Europe economies. We took into consideration positive, neutral, and negative events related to ratings changes and the outlooks reported by Fitch Ratings, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s. We used a methodology based on event studies. In addition, we performed Wilcoxon signed-ranks test and used a logit model to determine the usefulness of cumulative adjusted credit default swap (CDS) spread changes in predicting the direction of ratings changes. Findings & Value added: Our research provides evidence that the CDS market reflects information regarding government issuers up to three months before ratings downgrades are announced. Information reported to the market by ratings agencies is only relevant in the short timeframe surrounding ratings downgrades and upgrades. However, positive credit rating changes convey more information to the market. We also found strong evidence that, in the post-crisis period, credit ratings provide markets with less information.


In the financial markets, for investors, lenders, and issuers, credit rating agencies (CRAs) have a critical part in reducing the asymmetry of information between various parties. Credit ratings allow us to recognize the credit impending of a region's individuals. The paper clearly describes the role played in the establishment of a nation by credit rating agencies; there is a rise in new start-ups as all investors are rated favorably. Banks are helping to recognize the investment position of India. The main aim of the study is to analyze the research gap on the impact of credit rating on credit risk with a review of the literature. The study briefly explains the research gap which helps to analyze the factors which are responsible for credit risk. The study analyzes the definitions of basic terms, the origin of credit rating agencies’ objectives, and the scope of the present study and the literature review by assessing the credit rating users and examined the consequence of credit rating agencies on the Indian financial markets. Based on the nationwide and worldwide literature it is found that if the credit history of the investors is good then their credit score would be better and positive. It would also be incredibly convenient to collect loans. Finally, it is concluded that there is a positive impact of Credit Rating on Credit Risk of banking sectors in India.


2011 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Barth ◽  
Gaizka Ormazabal ◽  
Daniel J. Taylor

ABSTRACT This study examines the sources of credit risk associated with asset securitizations and whether credit-rating agencies and the bond market differ in their assessment of this risk. Measuring credit risk using credit ratings, we find the securitizing firm's credit risk is positively related to the firm's retained interest in the securitized assets and unrelated to the portion of the securitized assets not retained by the firm. Measuring credit risk using bond spreads, we find the securitizing firm's credit risk is positively related to both the firm's retained interest in the assets and the portion of the securitized assets not retained by the firm. Additionally, our findings indicate the bond market does not distinguish between the retained and non-retained portions of the securitized assets when assessing the credit risk of the securitizing firm. These different assessments of sources of credit risk associated with asset securitizations provide insight into ongoing controversies surrounding the financial reporting for asset securitizations and the efficacy of credit ratings.


Author(s):  
Natalia Besedovsky

This chapter studies calculative risk-assessment practices in credit rating agencies. It identifies two fundamentally different methodological approaches for producing ratings, which in turn shape the respective conceptions of credit risk. The traditional approach sees ‘risk’ as an only partially calculable and predictable set of hazards that should be avoided or minimized. This approach is particularly evident in the production of country credit ratings and gives rise to ordinal rankings of risk. By contrast, structured finance rating practices conceive of ‘risk’ as both fully calculable and controllable; they construct cardinal measures of risk by assuming that ontological uncertainty does not exist and that models can capture all possible events in a probabilistic manner. This assumption—that uncertainty can be turned into measurable risk—is a necessary precondition for structured finance securities and has become an influential imaginary in financial markets.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter

Journal of Applied Research in Accounting and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2011), pp. 14-30As demonstrated by the market reactions to downgrades of various sovereign credit ratings in 2011, the credit rating agencies occupy an important role in today’s globalized financial markets. This article provides an overview of the central characteristics of credit ratings and discusses risks arising from both their widespread use as market information and from the increasing references to credit ratings contained in laws, legal regulations and private contracts.


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