Credit Rating Agencies

Nowadays a countrys financial growth depends on how
much its citizens invest and its annual expenditure
and profit.

Giving credit has always been in fashion - for it
brings in good money to the potential lenders.

In the same way it allows consumers to have means to
participate largely into the countrys financial
benefits in this enormous money play discipline in of
utmost importance.

Credit bureaus maintain credit records and likewise
Credit rating agencies determine the appropriate rates
according to which consumers and lenders work out
their dealings.

Credit rates provided by credit rating agencies
function as guidelines in such cases. The issuers are
companies - cities - non-profit organizations - or
national governments issuing debt-like securities that
can be traded on a secondary market.

It is obvious that credit rates are never the same for
everyone. They are set on the basis of risk-based
pricing. Risk-based pricing is a way of price
differentiation based on the different expected costs
of different borrowers - as set out in their credit
rating.

There are more than hundred credit rating agencies
around the world. The top listed credit rating
agencies that assign credit ratings for corporations
include the following:

* A. M. Best {U.S.}

* Baycorp Advantage {Australia}

* Dominion Bond Rating Service {Canada}

* Fitch Ratings {U.S.}

* Moodys {U.S.}

* Standard & Poors {U.S.}

* Pacific Credit Rating {Peru}

* Egan-Jones Ratings Company {U.S.}

Credit rating agencies are not spared from criticism,
for their inability to downgrade countries readily
enough and also supprting unscrupulous company
management.