With offices in 23 countries and a history that dates back more than 150 years, Standard & Poor\u2019s is known to investors worldwide as a leader of financial- market intelligence. Today Standard & Poor\u2019s strives to provide investors who want to make better informed investment decisions with market intelligence in the form of credit ratings, indices, investment research and risk evaluations and solutions.<\/p>\n
S&P Indices<\/strong>, the world\u2019s leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor’s family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world’s most followed stock market index, the S&P\/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry’s most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds.<\/p>\n S&P Capital IQ<\/strong>, a brand of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is a leading provider of multi-asset class data, research and analytics to institutional investors, investment advisors and wealth managers around the world. It provides a broad suite of capabilities designed to help track performance, generate alpha, identify new trading and investment ideas, and perform risk analysis and mitigation strategies. Through leading desktop solutions such as Capital IQ, Global Credit Portal and MarketScope Advisor desktops; enterprise solutions such as S&P Securities Evaluations, Global Data Solutions, and Compustat; and research offerings, including Leveraged Commentary & Data, Global Market Intelligence, and company and fund research, S&P Capital IQ sharpens financial intelligence into the wisdom today\u2019s investors need.<\/p>\n S&P Ratings Services Key Statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s is a leading provider of financial market intelligence.\u00a0 The world\u2019s foremost source of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data, Standard & Poor\u2019s is an essential part of the world\u2019s financial infrastructure.\u00a0 For more than 150 years, Standard & Poor\u2019s provides financial decision-makers with the intelligence they need to feel confident about their decisions.<\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s history dates back to 1860.\u00a0 It was acquired by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. in 1966.<\/p>\n In 2010, Standard & Poor’s Ratings and McGraw-Hill Financial (which includes S&P Indices, S&P Equity Research, S&P Valuation and Risk Strategies, and Capital IQ) had revenues of $2.9 billion.<\/p>\n Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Dubai, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n Chile, Indonesia, and Malaysia<\/p>\n In 1860, Henry Varnum Poor published his \u201cHistory of Railroads and Canals of the United States.\u201d A founder of the financial information industry, Mr. Poor was a proponent of \u201cthe investor\u2019s right to know.\u201d In 1941, Standard Statistics merged with Poor\u2019s Publishing Company creating Standard & Poor\u2019s. Today,\u00a0 more than 150 years later, Standard & Poor\u2019s is the pre-eminent global provider of financial market intelligence and is still delivering on that original mission.<\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s is a leading provider of financial market intelligence. The world\u2019s foremost source of credit ratings, indices, investment research, risk evaluation and data, Standard & Poor\u2019s provides financial decision-makers with the intelligence they need to feel confident about their decisions.<\/p>\n Many investors know Standard & Poor\u2019s for its respected role as an independent provider of credit ratings and as the home of the S&P 500 benchmark index. But Standard & Poor\u2019s global organization also:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s has a long history of innovation. For example:<\/p>\n S&P CAPITAL IQ\/ S&P INDICES Key Statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n About McGraw-Hill Financial <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>McGraw-Hill Financial, a part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is a leading provider of research and analytical tools for investment advisors, wealth managers and institutional investors. It was created in 2010 as a means of unlocking the value of many well known, non-ratings assets of Standard & Poor\u2019s, an iconic name in financial research and publishing which McGraw-Hill acquired in 1967. Through its over 6,000 employees in offices around the world, McGraw-Hill Financial deploys the latest innovative technology and strategies to deliver to customers a portfolio of cross-asset analytics, integrated desktop services, valuation and index benchmarks and investment recommendations in the rapidly growing $16 billion financial information, data and analytics market. McGraw-Hill Financial operates under two leading brands. McGraw-Hill Financial is a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies formed in November 2010, and incorporating two brands.<\/p>\n About S&P Capital IQ <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>S&P Capital IQ, a brand of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is a leading provider of multi-asset class data, research and analytics to institutional investors, investment advisors and wealth managers around the world. It provides a broad suite of capabilities designed to help track performance, generate alpha, identify new trading and investment ideas, and perform risk analysis and mitigation strategies. Through leading desktop solutions such as Capital IQ, Global Credit Portal and MarketScope Advisor desktops; enterprise solutions such as S&P Securities Evaluations, Global Data Solutions, and Compustat; and research offerings, including Leveraged Commentary & Data, Global Market Intelligence, and company and fund research, S&P Capital IQ sharpens financial intelligence into the wisdom today\u2019s investors need.<\/p>\n About S&P Indices <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>S&P Indices, the world\u2019s leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor’s family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world’s most followed stock market index, the S&P\/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry’s most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds.<\/p>\n Headquarters: <\/strong> Credit Rating<\/strong><\/p>\n A credit rating is Standard & Poor’s opinion on the general creditworthiness of an obligor, or the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a particular debt security or other financial obligation. Over the years credit ratings have achieved wide investor acceptance as convenient tools for differentiating credit quality.<\/p>\n Credit ratings are opinions about credit risk published by a rating agency. They express opinions about the ability and willingness of an issuer, such as a corporation, state or city government, to meet its financial obligations in accordance with the terms of those obligations. Credit ratings are also opinions about the credit quality of an issue, such as a bond or other debt obligation, and the relative likelihood that it may default.<\/p>\n Ratings should not be viewed as assurances of credit quality or exact measures of the likelihood of default. Rather, ratings denote a relative level of credit risk that reflects a rating agency\u2019s carefully considered and analytically informed opinion as to the creditworthiness of an issuer or the credit quality of a particular As a group, credit rating agencies publish ratings and research about the creditworthiness of issuers and the credit quality of specific debt instruments. Despite general similarities among rating agencies, the types of issuers and issues\/securities they rate, the ways in which they assign their ratings and what those ratings signify varies. Some rating agencies limit their work to specific regions, sectors, and\/or asset classes, while others maintain global coverage and provide ratings across all sectors and asset classes.<\/p>\n Some major differences among rating agencies, which are explored in the following sections of this module, include:<\/p>\n Some credit rating agencies, including major global agencies like Standard & Poor\u2019s, are publishing and information companies that evaluate the credit risk of issuers and individual debt issues. They formulate and disseminate their opinions for use by investors and other market participants who may consider credit risk in making their investment and business decisions. Partly because rating agencies are not directly involved in capital market transactions, they have come to be viewed by both investors and issuers as impartial, independent providers of opinions on credit risk.<\/p>\n While investors and other market participants are also capable of analyzing credit quality, rating agencies can generally perform credit analyses more efficiently and economically than other firms because they specialize in that activity and devote substantial resources to it.<\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s: A Major Global Rating Agency<\/strong><\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s is a financial publishing, media, and information company with deep roots in those business segments. It applies many of the same principles that financial newspapers and magazines do in order to preserve their journalistic independence and integrity.<\/p>\n The credit analysis performed by Standard & Poor\u2019s analysts is in some ways similar to the credit analysis that analysts at banks or other financial institutions perform. However, rating analysts sometimes have access to confidential information that is provided by issuers, or investment bankers\/arrangers, of structured finance transactions as part of the rating process. Standard & Poor\u2019s also gains a valuable perspective from working on a wide range of credit ratings throughout the world.<\/p>\n Standard & Poor\u2019s performs independent evaluation and reporting of credit risk, and is not otherwise involved in capital market transactions. As a result, Standard & Poor\u2019s credit ratings, which are assigned based on transparent criteria, have long been utilized by capital market participants.<\/p>\n Standard And Poor\u2019s Debt Ratings<\/strong><\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018AAA\u2019 has EXTREMELY STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments. \u2018AAA\u2019 is the highest Issuer Credit Rating assigned by Standard & Poor\u2019s.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018AA\u2019 has VERY STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments. It differs from the highest rated obligors only in small degree.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018A\u2019 has STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments but is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligors in higher-rated categories.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018BBB\u2019 has ADEQUATE capacity to meet its financial commitments. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitments.<\/p>\n Obligors rated \u2018BB\u2019, \u2018B\u2019, \u2018CCC\u2019, and \u2018CC\u2019 are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. \u2018BB\u2019 indicates the least degree of speculation and \u2018CC\u2019 the highest. While such obligors will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018BB\u2019 is LESS VULNERABLE in the near term than other lower-rated obligors. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties and exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor\u2019s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments. B An obligor rated \u2018B\u2019 is MORE VULNERABLE than the obligors rated \u2018BB\u2019, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor\u2019s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments.<\/p>\n An obligation rated \u2018B\u2019 is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated \u2018BB\u2019, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor\u2019s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018CCC\u2019 is CURRENTLY VULNERABLE, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet its financial commitments.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018CC\u2019 is CURRENTLY HIGHLY-VULNERABLE.<\/p>\n Plus (+) or minus(-) The ratings from \u2018AA\u2019 to \u2018CCC\u2019 may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.<\/p>\n A subordinated debt or preferred stock obligation rated \u2018C\u2019 is CURRENTLY HIGHLY VULNERABLE to nonpayment. The \u2018C\u2019 rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed or similar action taken, but payments on this obligation are being continued. A \u2018C\u2019 also will be assigned to a preferred stock issue in arrears on dividends or sinking fund payments, but that is currently paying.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018R\u2019 is under regulatory supervision owing to its financial condition. During the pendency of the regulatory supervision the regulators may have the power to favor one class of obligations over others or pay some obligations and not others. Please see Standard & Poor\u2019s issue credit ratings for a more detailed description of the effects of regulatory supervision on specific issues or classes of obligations.<\/p>\n An obligor rated \u2018SD\u2019 (Selective Default) or \u2018D\u2019 has failed to pay one or more of its financial obligations (rated or unrated) when it came due. A \u2018D\u2019 rating is assigned when Standard & Poor\u2019s believes that the default will be a general default and that the obligor will fail to pay all or substantially all of its obligations as they come due. An \u2018SD\u2019 rating is assigned when Standard & Poor\u2019s believes that the obligor has selectively defaulted on a specific issue or class of obligations but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other issues or classes of obligations in a timely manner. Please see Standard & Poor\u2019s issue credit ratings for a more detailed description of the effects of a default on specific issues or classes of obligations.<\/p>\n An issuer designated N.R. is not rated.<\/p>\n Ratings with a \u2018pi\u2019 subscript are based on an analysis of an issuer\u2019s published financial information, as well as additional information in the public domain. They do not, however, reflect in-depth meetings with an issuer\u2019s management and are therefore based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a \u2018pi\u2019 subscript. Ratings with a \u2018pi\u2019 subscript are reviewed annually based on a new year\u2019s financial statements, but may be reviewed on an interim basis if a major event occurs that may affect the issuer\u2019s credit quality.<\/p>\n Outlooks are not provided for ratings with a \u2018pi\u2019 subscript, nor are they subject to potential CreditWatch listings. Ratings with a \u2018pi\u2019 subscript generally are not modified with \u2018+\u2019 or \u2018-\u2018 designations. However, such designations may be assigned when the issuer\u2019s credit rating is constrained by sovereign risk or the credit quality of a parent company or affiliated group.<\/p>\n The following timeline provides milestones in Standard & Poor\u2019s ratings history and global expansion:<\/p>\n 1868<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1916<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1941<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1971<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1973<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1974<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1975<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1984<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1984<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1985<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1986<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1989<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1990<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1993<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1994<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1995<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1996<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1997<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1997<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1998<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2003<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2004<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2005<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2008<\/p>\n<\/td>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With offices in 23 countries and a history that dates back more than 150 years, Standard & Poor\u2019s is known 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Financial Market Intelligence<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Unparalleled depth and breadth<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nPhone: 1-212-438-2000<\/p>\nCredit Ratings Are Expressions Of Opinion About Credit Risk<\/h2>\n
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History of Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating Services<\/h2>\n
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\n \n Henry Varnum Poor publishes a 200-page book containing operational and financial details on more than 120 railroad and canal companies<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First credit ratings on corporate bonds and sovereign debt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on municipal bonds<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First financial strength ratings on insurance companies<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on long-term debt of bank holding companies<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First rating (non sovereign) issuers located outside the United States<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on mortgage-backed securities<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Began opening European offices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on fixed income bond and money market funds<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and asset backed securities (ABS) (made up of equipment leases, student loans, and other consumer obligations)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened office in Japan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened office in Australia, through acquisition of Australian Ratings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened offices in Canada and Mexico, through acquisition of CAVAL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened office in Hong Kong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on bank loans<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on catastrophe bonds<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened offices in Argentina (through acquisition), Brazil, and Taiwan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n First ratings on synthetic CDOs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened office in Russia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Introduced recovery ratings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened office in China<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Investment in India (majority investment in CRISIL Ratings)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n Opened offices in Dubai, South Africa, and Israel (through the acquisition of Maalot)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n