Author: Dr. Oliver Everling

The pandemic is leaving its mark on rating systems from different perspectives. Working families swap the city for country living: Changing work habits brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and rising house prices have seen households turn their back on cities for nearby countryside locations. There are changes in real estate markets, but also in…

Moody’s credit ratings for MAHLE GmbH is just below investment grade, Ba1 (LT Corporate Family Ratings, since April 7, 2021). The credit rating is not on Watch, the outlook stable. Recent news could cause this situation to change. MAHLE and Matthias Arleth (54), Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, have decided to terminate their…

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) presents limited risks to the mainstream financial system as, barring stablecoins, it is largely separate and not yet systemic in size. Nevertheless, alongside market and liquidity risks, fraud is a significant risk with DeFi transactions. While a smaller rating agency is hardly able to slow down enthusiastic investors, but – on the…

Moody’s Investors Service is seeking feedback by May 05, 2022 from market participants on proposed changes to its Banks Methodology. The key proposed revision is to introduce new ratings that exclude government support (XG ratings) in Moody’s methodology for banks. The rating agency is currently collecting comments and opinions from market participants. Hence a remark…

The exuberant regulation of the credit rating agencies is always sprouting new flowers. The instrumentalization of rating agencies for political goals is being discussed at the United Nations, although right now it is becoming clear what negative effects it has when rating agencies are used for political sanctions. At the “High Level Meeting on the…

Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (publ) (SBB) attracted attention due to the rating shopping spree of its main shareholder.

Looking forward to 2022, Morningstar, Inc.’s Joe Mansueto, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board, and Kunal Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, expect the Board to support Morningstar’s strategic initiatives including an initiative they call “Organizational Design Responsive to Changes in our Regulatory Landscape”.

US rating agencies remain at an advantage over their European competitors. As the practical example of regulation in Hesse shows, the investment guidelines for municipalities cement the dominant position of the US rating agencies for every rated investment. Even the German rating agencies are out of the question for most communities. Since the ratings of…

Part 2 Funds available according to the provision listed in “Information from the Hessian Ministry of the Interior on investments and deposit protection” of May 29, 2018 can be invested in shares in investment funds within the meaning of the Investment Modernization Act (Investmentmodernisierungsgesetz). The aforementioned requirements have already been reported here in Part 1.…

On May 29, 2018, the Hessian Ministry of the Interior informed on investments and deposit protection in the State of Hesse, Germany. In the wake of the Greensill scandal, this legal framework is being given new life in many communities. The following article will therefore first explain the legal framework created in 2018 before examples…

A quant technology provider, SigTech, has analysed data on the global hedge fund industry and identified key trends around growth, new launches and investment strategies. According to their findings and couting 27,255 active hedge funds globally, 67% of all hedge funds globally and 70% of all new fund launches are US-based Crypto hedge funds appear…

ESMA Chair, Verena Ross, takes a look at the rating market structure today, and sees that there are 24 CRAs in the EU registered with ESMA, located in 13 different Member States. She delivered a keynote speech at the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) Summit. Verena Ross spoke, among other things, about Credit Rating…

“Looking at the big picture, the capital markets are facing a real turning point – towards looming resource scarcity and increased inflationary pressure. The current corrections are therefore not a brief blip, but the beginning of a tectonic market shakeout,” said Dr. Heinz-Werner Rapp, board member and chief investment officer of FERI, at the digital…

A Swedish entrepreneur strives for glamor and distinction. The case of the entrepreneur Ilija Batljan showed what special features can appear.

In 1991 Moody’s presented itself in full-page advertisements as the first German credit rating agency. Moody’s Investors Service now achieves an average operating margin of over 60% worldwide. However, after three decades, the German-language website of this leading international agency is still in a deplorable state. After so many years, Moody’s German website still does…

Possible sanctions attract the attention of credit analysts. Russia’s credit outlook could be adversely affected by specific Western sanctions, in the event of a failure to defuse the crisis over Ukraine, says Levon Kameryan, Senior Analyst, Sovereign and Public Sector Ratings, and looks at the cumulative impact of existing and potentially stronger future sanctions, a…

When people in Africa spoke of an independent credit rating agency – independent of the three leading US rating giants – they were talking about “Global Credit Rating” from South Africa, which had made a name for itself on the entire African continent. GCR is a leading credit rating agency in Africa with offices across…

Rating agencies have been the subject of a number of controversies since the late 1990s, writes Norbert Gaillard in his latest book “Les agences de notation“, published in Éditions La Decouverte, Paris 2022. The Asian crisis of 1997/98, the Enron scandal of 2001 , the debacle on the subprime market in 2007/2008 and the sovereign…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its “Final Report” with “Guidelines on Disclosure Requirements for Initial Reviews and Preliminary Ratings“. The purpose of these Guidelines is to deliver guidance that will address inconsistencies in the application of these requirements by Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), and by extension reduce the risks that are posed…

The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) is including Moody’s Corporation for the third year in a row. Moody’s was recognized this year again for ongoing leadership in promoting gender equality among its peer companies in the global business community. The rating agency is not just following a fashion trend here. Since questions about gender equality play…

At the beginning of January, the US economy was still the world’s economic engine, while Germany – after negative growth in the fourth quarter – was heading for a very weak first quarter. “However,” says Carsten Mumm, Chief Economist at Privatbank DONNER & REUSCHEL, “the current flash estimates of the Markit purchasing managers’ indices paint…

A new risk class methodology with seven risk classes (RK1 to RK7 similar to MiFiD II or SRRI) and at the same time emancipation from the dogma of “historical volatility” should determine the risk ratings of the DEXTRO Group in the future, which will continue to be based on the pillars of forecast risk /…

A new article discusses a dissenting verdict on the rating of a cruise ship bond. The numerous decisions of the Berlin courts have brought the issue of the liability of rating agencies back into focus, writes lawyer Dr. Sunny Kapoor, Frankfurt a. M., in his article “Haftung von Ratingagenturen für Emissionsratings” (WM 2021 Heft 50-52,…

The excessive regulation of rating agencies in the European Union (EU) has failed to achieve its goal. The dominance of US rating agencies remains. Their ratings are practically the only decisive factor for the allocation of the economic resource “capital” in Europe. The three leading US agencies S&P Global Ratings Europe, Moody’s Investors Service and…

KBRA, a full-service global rating agency committed to innovation and integrity, announced today it has entered a deal with leading growth-oriented private equity firm Parthenon Capital Partners who will acquire a majority stake in the company. KBRA is a global credit rating agency found­­ed in the wake of the global financial crisis. “When KBRA was…

The third bond from Photon Energy N.V., a family-run, listed Dutch developer and operator of solar power plants for its own electricity production and for third parties, is new to the URA observation. “In addition,” adds Jens Höhl, Managing Director of URA Research GmbH, “there have recently been activities such as electricity storage and water…

A leading online art marketplace, art market data and analytics provider, and global newswire, announced “ArtNFT”: this is Artnet AG’s launch of its on-chain NFT platform, its NFT Advisory Board, and ‘Artnet NFT 30’ report. Artnet AG is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the segment with the highest transparency standards.…

Moody’s Corporation posted an updated management presentation for investors on its website, ir.moodys.com, reflecting certain information regarding the Moody’s results for the three months ended September 30, 2021, as well as updated full-year 2021 guidance as of October 28, 2021, and its posting is provided pursuant to Regulation FD. Senior management is expected use this…

Nearly one in three (30%) pension funds and institutional investors say their use of ESG rating agencies will increase dramatically over the next three years, and a further 38% believe it will increase slightly. This is according to new research from quant technologies provider SigTech, who surveyed institutional investors across North America, Europe and Asia…

The state specification of the number of customers and the limitation of the number of customers who – regardless of market demand – are allowed to use certain services, are typical features of a central administration economy in times of financial repression. On October 5th, 2021, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) ordered N26 Bank…

Why is it not wise to ignore an important dimension of the bank rating, not even for capital adequacy purposes? According to the Basel Framework as it will appear in the future on January 1, 2025, banks incorporated in jurisdictions that allow the use of external ratings for regulatory purposes will assign to their rated…

Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (publ) (“SBB”) has entered into a binding agreement to divest eight non-strategic properties with commercial tenants for approximately SEK 400m. This exceeds the latest external valuations (as of 30 September 2021) by 60 percent. “We are selling the properties considerably above our most recent quarterly valuation and will use the proceeds…

Heike Gündling will take up the position as the new CEO at the Berlin software house 21st Real Estate on November 1, 2021. Gündling has many years of expertise in the real estate industry and digitization. Most recently she was Managing Director Real Estate at the global data specialist Eucon. She held previous positions as…

Moody’s Corporation has acquired Bogard AB, a leading provider of data and information on politically exposed persons (PEPs) in the Nordic region. The acquisition advances Moody’s ability to help customers perform Know Your Customer (KYC) screening and research to address financial crime. Bogard covers over 17,000 PEPs, relatives, and close associates across Sweden, Norway, Denmark,…

“The EU requirements for providers of credit ratings have not broken the dominance of the three big agencies S&P, Moody’s and Fitch”, says a story published in Germany’s only stock exchange daily, Börsen-Zeitung. in Frankfurt on October 28, 2021. The author, Detlef Fechtner, reports on a speech deliverd by Steffen Kern, Chief Economist and Head…

S&P Global reported third quarter 2021 results with revenue of more than $ 2 billion, an increase of 13% compared to the same period last year. Every segment was delivering revenue growth. Net income increased 75% to $797 million. Diluted earnings per share increased 75% to $3.30 primarily due to the debt tender premium and…

Scope’s new Board of Trustee’s member could not only prove to be an own goal, but also bring disadvantages for competing agencies.

The raid on the German Ministry of Finance was the subject of a special meeting of the Bundestag Finance Committee this week. The background to the search are investigations into employees of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), who are said to have failed to forward information on terrorist financing to the judiciary and the police…

A new study shows the most expensive and cheapest neighborhoods in Germany. It contains an evaluation of the current real estate prices, the minimum income that is necessary to avoid financial overload due to housing costs. The study shows an overview of the median income in the respective city as well as an exemplary calculation.…

CRA Transparency Reports 2021 “Transparency Reports” of credit rating agencies (CRAs) are published in accordance with Article 12 and Annex I, Section E.III of the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies: (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies, as amended by Regulation (EU)…

SPD candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure The “governance” criterion plays an important role in ESG ratings for states. Not only credit ratings are influenced by good governance. Finance ministries have a crucial role in this. The Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office searched the Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany this week. The Federal…

A B (Single B) is shown on the Expo rating scale. In his Investmentcheck-News KW 36/2021, Stefan Loipfinger comes to a different conclusion, mainly due to the lack of willingness to provide information. The Exporo classification measures the relative risk using important criteria that are of great importance when making an investment decision in the…

Challenge of maintaining independence The Analytical Credit Rating Agency, Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes areas for cooperation between the aforementioned parties, the key goal of which is to stimulate economic growth in the Republic of Armenia and…

Dr. Tamaz Georgadze comments in the renowned “Börsen-Zeitung” on the “Causa Greensill“ Deposit platforms such as the German “WeltSparen” and “Zinspilot” are among the most important innovations in banking: Customers get more choice and can benefit from higher interest rates from other banks. Deposit-taking banks efficiently diversify the sources of their customer liquidity, which contributes…

Rework requested Just a few years ago, a cereal was linguistically associated with Kellogg’s. Anyone who spoke of Kellogg’s in Germany thought of cornflakes and vice versa, anyone who thought of cornflakes would also think of Kellogg’s. In the meantime, discount chains – from Germany for example – such as Aldi and Lidl have revolutionized…

Standard & Poor’s gave away a strong name “Landor announced that it has provided brand strategy and design services to McGraw Hill Financial for the company’s bold new brand identity as S&P Global. Landor partnered with the company to create a new name and design system that confidently marks S&P Global as the leader in delivering…

Revenue Grid, a Mountainview, California-based revenue platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. “800,000 sales pros use Revenue Grid to win faster and with more confidence”, says the website. The company is proud to have Moody’s as a customer. W3 Capital led the round and was joined by investors including ICU Ventures. W3 Capital is a family owned…

Increasingly, insurers advertise that they are working with so-called scoring models when calculating premiums for occupational disability insurance. With the help of additional questions about the specific structure of everyday working life, the insurer should be able to get a more realistic picture of the risk to be insured. Customers and intermediaries should welcome it…

Largely unnoticed, Italy’s stock market is currently changing from an ugly duckling to a proud swan, or rather to a hidden champion in international comparison. Or is this just a flash in the pan, like the one that the President of the European Central Bank has already kindled for all of Europe? This change is…

Who is actually interested in RATING©REPAIR? Only subscribers are known by name. All others remain anonymous. Nevertheless, we can see how many views RATING©REPAIR has received per country by the day, week, month, and year. This is technically possible today. The above illustration refers to the last 30 days. If a visitors’ location cannot be…

Some surprising observations Many Internet users do not bother to memorize the exact domain of a website, but simply enter a clear keyword into the Google search engine in order to be able to simply click on the desired result and visit the desired website. The displayed search results are therefore of great importance for…

The misleading self-presentation of a local credit rating agency in Hamburg raised the question of what kind of representations are allowed.

Transactions of Lang & Schwarz Aktiengesellschaft are the subject of a tax audit, reports the company in a publication of inside information in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. The subject of the tax audit is an examination of the business of Lang & Schwarz Aktiengesellschaft in the financial years 2007 to…

A not so unique rating agency

The professionalization of an asset class can only be achieved with reliable rating offers. More artworks are offered and traded digitally than ever before. With 24/7 worldwide bidding, “Artnet Auctions” is a leading online-only marketplace for buying and selling fine art. New bidders, buyers, and consignors across categories, geographies, and demographics entrust artnet Auctions with…

Rating agencies have been registered in the European Union since 2010 in order to operate in accordance with the EU regulation on rating agencies of 2009 (CRAR). Dozens of agencies have therefore made use of the option, but also the obligation, to register or get certified. Rating agencies are only allowed to operate in the…

Links to websites of the Credit Rating Agencies authorized in the European Union. The credit rating agencies listed below have been registered or certified by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in accordance with the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation. Domains of websites are added. According to ESMA, the list was last updated on May…

The clear divide between investment-grade and speculative-grade debt markets dates back decades. A number of central banks make their bond purchase programs dependent on minimum credit ratings. These are often operationalized by specifying rating symbols, such as the rating symbols Baa3 or BBB-. When a rating agency tries to win paid orders from issuers by…

What makes the price positioning of our rating repair shop so unique. Our RATING©REPAIR brand has only one price, namely only a single monthly subscription fee, billed by WordPress and the payment service provider Stripe. With this price we position ourselves between the monthly subscription fees of newspapers, magazines and other data providers on the…

No blank check for SPACs. Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are shell companies that are admitted to trading on a trading venue with the intention to acquire a business and are often referred to as “blank check companies”. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) encourages National Competent Authorities (NCAs) to focus their scrutiny of…