Author: Dr. Oliver Everling

Scope Ratings has intensified its public narrative around expansion, positioning itself as a European counterweight to the dominance of S&P, Moody’s and Fitch. Yet the latest market share data published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) reveal a starkly contrasting reality: Scope’s relative position in the European rating market has weakened significantly over…

The European credit rating agency (CRA) market remains highly concentrated, butrecent data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) indicate subtle yet meaningful shifts in market shares that are reshaping competitive dynamics. The 2025 edition of ESMA’s CRA Market Share Report, based on audited 2024 revenues, provides a detailed snapshot of how dominance, consolidation,…

In a press release dated December 17, 2025, the Bremen public prosecutor announced that it has brought charges before the Regional Court of Bremen against “two former members of the Management Board and one member of the Supervisory Board of Greensill Bank AG.” The charges relate to suspected bankruptcy offenses in an especially serious case,…

The launch of Morningstar and PitchBook applications within ChatGPT marks a significant escalation in the global competition for investment intelligence. By integrating proprietary financial data directly into AI-driven workflows, the US-based firms are redefining how investors access, analyze, and act on market information—and in doing so, they are widening the gap European rating agencies must…

Global markets are entering the second half of the decade with a mix of resilience, concentration risks and growing signs of speculative excess, particularly in artificial intelligence and adjacent technologies. Recent venture capital data underline how strongly capital is being drawn toward AI, which now accounts for more than half of all VC investments this…

What only began as a bold initiative in March 2025 is now approaching its first milestone: the imminent publication of Soft Skill Rating – Training and Management of Social Competence with Springer Gabler. Edited by Dr. Oliver Everling and Dominik Wever, this collective volume brings together the expertise of more than 30 leading professionals from business, science,…

Morningstar’s newly announced overhaul of its Morningstar Medalist Rating™, scheduled to launch globally in April 2026, raises an important question: does the update introduce genuine methodological innovation, or is it largely an exercise in repackaging and clarity? The company’s communication emphasizes transparency, usability, and stability—worthy goals, but ones that often accompany incremental rather than transformative…

At the Handelsblatt BankenTech 2025 conference, Europe’s financial industry gathered at a moment when technology, regulation, and geopolitics are converging more sharply than ever before. Policymakers, bank executives, fintech founders and infrastructure providers made one thing clear: European banking is standing at the threshold of a structural transformation. Technologies that once seemed optional — instant…

At the Handelsblatt BankenTech conference, AWS delivered one of the most consequential cloud announcements for Europe’s financial industry: the launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Set to go live in December 2025, this new cloud region is purpose-built to address Europe’s highest expectations for digital sovereignty, regulatory compliance and operational independence—without sacrificing the innovation,…

Artur Gruca’s keynote, “Beyond the Buzz: The AI Advantage and how HVB is Redefining the Future of Finance,” offers a comprehensive look into how HypoVereinsbank, as part of UniCredit, is transforming itself into a technologically empowered, data-driven and operationally excellent institution. Gruca’s keynote takes place at the Handelsblatt Annual Conference BankenTech, one of the leading…

Luminar Technologies—once hailed as a standout innovator in automotive LiDAR—now sits on the brink of collapse? A combination of mounting debt, evaporating liquidity, and the sudden termination of its anchor customer contract has pushed the company into what experts describe as a near-inevitable bankruptcy scenario. As the situation unfolds, detailed analytics from martini.ai reveal that…

Concerns about the rapid growth of private debt markets have intensified following several high-profile failures, yet the broader structural context tells a more nuanced story. As Egan-Jones Ratings Company notes, “private debt fills a critical void” in today’s funding landscape, particularly as banks face mounting constraints. For thousands of years, private debt has served as a primary…

Global convertible bonds continued to benefit from the worldwide equity rally in the third quarter, underscoring their reputation as a defensive yet growth-oriented asset class. According to Arnaud Brillois, Portfolio Manager and Head of the Global Convertible Team at Lazard Asset Management, convertible bonds have performed on par with global equities since the start of…

The mood in Germany’s hotel investment market remains complex and divided. While the outlook for individual companies and the industry as a whole has improved slightly compared to last year, uncertainty clouds the revenue expectations of hotels. At the same time, trends are becoming increasingly polarized. These are the key findings of the 13th HospitalityInside…

The global order is entering a period of profound transition. For nearly eight decades, Western security and economic stability rested on the foundation of U.S. global leadership. Today, however, that geopolitical structure is eroding. As the rating agency Egan-Jones notes, post-war stability relied on the assumption “that America would use its global hegemony to deter…

Why ChatGPT often falls short – and specialized services like Palturai have the edge Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT impress with their ability to understand, structure, and generate complex text in seconds. They can analyze concepts, identify patterns, and communicate with remarkable fluency across virtually any topic. Yet when it comes to accurate and…

A newly launched European battery recycling consortium, valued at €3.137 million and led by the Production Engineering of E-Mobility (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University, is drawing attention not only for its strategic collaboration but also for the technological promise it represents. The consortium brings together a group of specialized industrial and academic partners, including Iondrive…

Moody’s Corporation delivered another robust performance in the third quarter of 2025, underscoring its growing strength not only as one of the world’s top credit-rating agencies but also as a leading provider of data-driven risk analytics. Revenue and Profit Surge Despite Economic Headwinds For the quarter ended September 30, 2025, Moody’s reported revenue of $2.01…

The term Attention Economy emerged in the late 20th century as a response to the growing realization that in an age of information abundance, human attention had become the scarcest and most valuable resource. The concept was first articulated by the economist and psychologist Herbert A. Simon in the 1970s, who famously observed that “a…

The transformation from a Quantity Economy to a Quality Economy is deeply intertwined with the shift from the Attention Economy to the Action Economy. Both transitions signal a profound redefinition of value creation—from accumulation to activation, from visibility to meaningful impact. In the Quantity Economy, progress was measured by output, scale, and consumption. Growth meant…

In the world of credit assessment, trust is the invisible currency that underpins every rating decision. Yet as the Trust Report by DXC Technology reveals, the digital foundation on which trust rests is shifting profoundly. “The very fabric of organizational security is being tested strenuously,” the study warns, as artificial intelligence and increasingly complex networks…

Morningstar’s announcement that it will acquire the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) represents more than a simple expansion of its product suite—it signals a strategic alignment with the business models of other leading rating and research agencies. By taking over CRSP’s well-established indexes, which underpin more than $3 trillion in U.S. equities, Morningstar…

The latest innovation from Deutsche Börse may not only strengthen market integrity but also create a foundation for improved ratings. By integrating social media intelligence into its leading Scila surveillance system, a major milestone has been reached. As the announcement states, Deutsche Börse has become “the first major exchange to successfully integrate social media intelligence deeply…

The economic policies shaping Donald Trump’s second term appear, from the standpoint of conventional economic theory, to be steering the United States toward self-inflicted harm. According to an analysis by Lazard’s Chief Market Strategist Ron Temple (as reported in Frankfurt on 16 September 2025), the introduction of broad tariffs averaging 15 to 20 percent is…

While the List of De-Registered or De-Certified CRAs, last updated 10 July 2024, reads like a litany of exits, the counterpart—a list of newly-authorised CRAs—has remained conspicuously static (esma.europa.eu). This imbalance underscores a broader structural challenge: entering the European CRA market has become increasingly difficult, even as several established players withdraw under regulatory pressure, strategic realignment, or consolidation.…

When Verena Ross, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), warns about mounting risks in financial markets, her words carry institutional weight. In a recent statement she emphasized that “the risks are skewed to the downside” and cautioned investors to brace for “heightened uncertainty across asset classes.” At first glance, such remarks might…

In times of volatile markets and conflicting headlines, long-term structural trends offer a more reliable compass for investors. Ferdinand Dalhuisen, Managing Director Private Assets at Oddo BHF Asset Management, argues that one such trend is impossible to ignore: “The energy transition has emerged as one of the most significant trends of the past decade, as…

The Handelsblatt Banking Summit 2025 brought together leading figures from Germany’s financial sector to discuss challenges, opportunities, and the future of banking in a rapidly changing world. Across a series of interviews and keynote speeches, participants highlighted themes ranging from regulation and innovation to strategic investments and the role of banks in supporting the broader…

Moody’s Corporation’s announcement of acquiring a majority stake in the Middle East Rating & Investors Service (MERIS) is more than a regional deal—it signals a strategic move with potential implications for European investors who are increasingly attentive to developments in emerging markets. For over two decades, MERIS has played a central role in Egypt’s capital…

It is not often that Moody’s Corporation resorts to an interim leadership solution. The company, known for its carefully managed and stable succession planning, has now appointed Andy Frepp, Chief Operating Officer of Moody’s Analytics, as Interim President of the division. The move follows the resignation of Stephen Tulenko, who is leaving Moody’s to pursue…

Schroders Capital projects a fundamental shift in the private equity landscape. According to its latest analysis, the global market for continuation funds – often referred to as GP-led secondaries – is expected to quadruple over the next decade. The firm’s base scenario suggests that annual exit proceeds from such investments could exceed USD 300 billion…

The 2025 coalition agreement marks a pivotal moment in Germany’s long-standing struggle to reform its private pension system. With the introduction of two major initiatives – the “Frühstartrente” (early-start pension) and the overhaul of the Riester pension – the government and banking associations aim to promote private capital formation and secure retirement income for future…

The revised regulation on European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIF), which came into force in January 2024, marks a turning point for private investors. For the first time, they have broader access to asset classes such as private equity, private debt, and infrastructure—markets traditionally dominated by institutional investors. These private market investments offer attractive return potential,…

In an unusually blunt assessment, the latest commentary by Axel D. Angermann, Chief Economist, FERI Group, highlights a striking imbalance in transatlantic trade relations and issues a call to action for Europe’s political leadership. “The obvious weakness of the EU offers opportunities,” Angermann notes — an opening line that sets the tone for a piece…

In recent years, Nordic Bonds have emerged as an increasingly attractive financing instrument for mid-sized and high-growth companies across Europe. For German firms in particular, Nordic Bonds offer a flexible and investor-friendly alternative to traditional debt instruments, often providing access to international institutional capital without the regulatory hurdles of large-scale public bond issues. A recent…

The Credit Rating of the United States and the Emerging Role of the Euro: A New Global Currency Moment? In a notable speech, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde addressed the possibility of a “Global Euro Moment”—a historic opportunity for the euro to increase its significance as a global reserve currency. Her remarks coincide with…

The inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in 2025 has sparked global interest and market speculation. “We see a significant degree of uncertainty in the markets, and indeed, 2025 could bring some surprises,” says Desiree Sauer, Investment Strategist at Lazard Asset Management. Sauer predicts that the economic gap between the U.S. and the rest of…