A credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise

such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a [3] credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are determined by credit ratings agencies. The credit rating represents the credit rating agency's evaluation of qualitative and quantitative information for a company or government; including non-public information obtained by the credit rating agencies analysts. Credit ratings are not based on mathematical formulas. Instead, credit rating agencies use their judgment and experience in determining what public and private information should be considered in giving a rating to a particular company or government. The credit rating is used by individuals and entities that purchase the bonds issued by companies and governments to determine the likelihood that the government will pay its bond obligations. A poor credit rating indicates a credit rating agency's opinion that the company or government has a high risk of defaulting, based on the agency's analysis of the entity's history and analysis of long term economic prospects. A Credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that assigns credit ratings for issuers of certain types of debtobligations as well as the debt instruments themselves. In some cases, the servicers of the underlying debt are also given ratings. In most cases, the issuers of securities are companies, special purpose entities, state and local governments, non-profit organizations, or national governments issuing debt-like securities (i.e., bonds) that can be traded on a secondary market. A credit rating for an issuer takes into consideration the issuer'scredit worthiness (i.e., its ability to pay back a loan), and affects the interest rate applied to the particular security being issued. The value of such security ratings has been widely questioned after the 2007-09 financial crisis. In 2003 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission submitted a report to Congress detailing plans to launch an investigation into the anti-competitive practices of credit rating agencies and issues including conflicts of interest.[1] More recently, ratings downgrades during the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010-11 have drawn criticism from the EU and individual countries. A company that issues credit scores for individual credit-worthiness is generally called a credit bureau (US) or consumer credit reporting agency (UK).

Name and Registered address of Credit Rating Agencies

1. CRISIL Limited CRISIL House

Central Avenue Hiranandani Business Park Powai Mumbai 400 076 Tel: + 91 (22) 56913001 09 Fax: + 91 (22) 56913010 Website: www.crisil.com

Email: info@crisil.com
2. Fitch Ratings India Private Ltd. Apeejay House, 6th Floor

3 Dinshaw Vachha Road Churchgate Mumbai 400 020 Tel: + 91 (022) 56370920-23 Fax: + 91 (022) 56370924 Website: www.fitchratings.com 3. ICRA Limited 1105, Kailash Building, 11th Floor 26, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110 001 Tel: + 91 (11) 23357940 50 Fax: + 91 (11) 23357014 Website: www.icra.in Email: info@icraindia.com
4. Credit Analysis & Research Ltd. (CARE)

4th Floor, Godrej Coliseum Somaiya Hospital Road Behind Everard Nagar Off Eastern Express Highway, Sion (E) Mumbai 400 022 Tel: + 91 (22) 566 02871-73 Fax: + 91 (22) 566 02876 Website: www.careratings.com Email: care@careratings.com 5. Brickwork Ratings India Private Limited 3rd Floor, Raj Alkaa Park 29/3 & 32/2, Kalena Agrahara Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560 076 Tel: +91 (80) 4040 9940 Fax: +91 (80) 4040 9941 Website: www.brickworkratings.in Email: info@brickworkratings.com 6. SME Rating Agency of India Ltd. (SMERA)

Unit No. 102, 1st Floor Sumer Plaza Marol Maroshi Road Marol Andheri (East) Mumbai 400 059 Tel: + 91 (22) 67141144-45 Fax: + 91 (22) 67141142 Website: www.smera.in Email: info@smera.in
7. onicra credit rating agency

Here is the list of Top 10 Credit Rating Agencies of the world. These agencies are Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 1. MODDYS

Moodys is the oldest credit rating agency. It is also the first rating agency to be recognized by NRSRO in 1975. The company became public in 2000. It has been earning huge profits. Average profit margin was 53% from 2000 to 2007. Structured finance products was its top source of revenue by 2000. 2. Standard & Poors

The agency is owned by Mc Graw-Hill Inc. It has been published any stock indices of the world, most famous being S&P 500 index which is the most watched index in the world. McGraw-Hill reported a net profit margin of 12.6 percent for 2008. 3. Fitch

Fitch is smallest among the top three agencies. It is a part of Fitch Group, a subsidiary of Fimalac S.A FIM.PA. Was the third agency to become an NRSRO in 1975. From 1975 to 1992, four other agencies were recognized as NRSROs and all subsequently merged with Fitch. 4. DBRS

DBRS is privately owned Canadian ratings agency. Has been the top ratings agency in Canada for 30 years. It became the fourth NRSRO in 2003. DBRS believes that it can compete with the big three but is not favored by authorities. 5. Egan-Jones

Egan-Jones is a Philadelphia-based agency founded in 1995. It was granted NRSRO status in December 2007 after a nine-year process. Although they are paid by investor-subscribers, Egan-Jones will give out their ratings to anyone who asks. 6. A.M Best

A.M Best was founded in 1899 in New York City and became an NRSRO in 2005. It specializes exclusively on the insurance marketplace and so not a competitor with the others per se. But has recently begun issuing debt and financial-strange ratings for small and mid-sized commercial banks. 7. Japan Credit Rating Agency Limited

Japan Credit rating Agency was established in 1985 and based in Tokyo and it became an NRSRO in 2007. It is a small agency when compared to competitors. it has a staff of just 90. 8. Rating and Investment Information Inc

The second Japanese credit ratings agency to become an NRSRO in 2007. It was set up in 1975, now based in Nihonbashi. New York office was set up in 2005. 9. LACE Financial

It was founded in 1984, and became a NRSRO in 2008. The second NRSRO after Egan-Jones to operate on investor-paid business model. 10. Realpoint LLC

Realpoint LLC became a NRSRO in 2008. It is one of the smallest NRSROs and is paid by issuers. Obtained an exemption in 2008 from the SEC regulation that an NRSRO is prohibited from rating an issuer that contributes 10 percent or more of its revenue.

The Top 4 You will notice that the Top 4 world rating agencies are all based in the USA. Credit rating agencies are generally worldwide, so they are not utilized on a countrywide basis. All four top agencies have affiliates in Latin America and Asia. A.M. Best A.M. Best is historically the main agency used for insurance companies. It assigns ratings to insurance companies to measure how able they are to pay claims. It is recognised by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO - a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization. A.M. Best is based in the USA but has European and world arms. View Website Fitch Fitch Group was, alongside other main agencies, designated NRSRO status by the US Securites and Exchange Status. It uses the same rating system as Standard & Poor's. View Website Moody's

Moody's Corporation is, like most of the main credit rating agencies, based in the USA. According to some sources, it has a 40 per cent share in the world credit rating market. View Website Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's is usually referred to simply as S&P's and they are also one of the most-used ratings agencies. Like many, S&P's dates back to the early part of the last century. Most well known on its ratings is the S&P 500, which is a very actively traded index. It is made up of the prices of 500 common stocks. View Website

ASIA
Ahbor Rating Ahbor Rating is based in Uzbekistan. The website does not work so we have provided the Uzbek government homepage which contains information on Ahbor. View Website Chengxin International Credit Rating Co. Ltd. Chengxin are based in China and are a Fitch affiliate. Please note there is no English option on the website. View Website China Lianhe Credit Rating, Co. Ltd. China Lianhe Credit Rating are based in China and provide analysis for investors. Please note the website is not available in English and requires Quick Time Player. View Website China Financial Ratings Services - Xinhua Finance Xinhua provide transparency on Chinese companies. View Website Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE) CARE are based in India and is one of the main credit rating agencies of India. Its services are wide and span across most sectors. View Website

Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh, Ltd. (CRAB) CRAB is based in Bangladesh and styles itself as one of the predominant credit rating agencies of the area. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) of Bangladesh has granted CRAB with a license. View Website Credit Rating Information and Services, Ltd. (CRISL) CRISL is another key credit rating agency for Bangladesh. View Website CRISIL, Ltd. CRISL is an S&P company, and as such is one of the leading credit rating agencies of India. View Website Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd. Dagong is based in China and is a highly-qualified credit rating agency - they are a member of the Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia and is on the China Securities Regulatory Commission. View Website Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) ICRA is based in India and is a Moody's associate. View Website Japan Credit Rating Agency Japan Credit Rating Agency - or JCR - was established in 1985, and is the main credit rating agency in Japan. View Website JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. Based in Pakistan, this company is an affiliate of Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. It is also a founder shareholder of Bahrain's IIRA. View Website Korea Investors Service, Inc. (KIS) KIS is an affiliate of Moody's. It was established in 1985 and claims to be the first credit rating agency in Korea. View Website

Korea Ratings Corporation Korea Ratings has been in operation since 1985 and is an affiliate of Fitch. View Website Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad Also known as MARC, this is a credit rating agency based in Malaysia. They were established in 1996, and currently 'paid-up' capital for MARC stands at RM20 million. Ratings are reviewed annually. View Website Mikuni & Co. Ltd. Mikuni is based in Japan and is an independent credit rating information service. View Website National Information & Credit Evaluation, Inc. (NICE) NICE is based in Korea and claims to be the largest credit information provider there. View Website ONICRA Credit Rating Agency of India, Ltd. ONICRA provides screening in employment background for businesses. It also provides information for associates and for personal credit rating. View Website Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (PACRA) PACRA was formerly a Fitch affiliate and styles itself as a key credit rating agency for Pakistan. View Website Philippine Rating Services, Corp. (PhilRatings) PhilRatings is the only domestic credit rating agency in the Philippines. It is accredited by the SEC. View Website P.T. Kasnic Credit Rating Indonesia - Indonesia Kasnic Credit Rating Indonesia is associated with Moody's - the latter has a 99% stake in Kasnic, View Website P.T. PEFINDO Credit Rating Indonesia PT PEFINDO is based in Indonesia and was established in 1993.

View Website RAM Ratings (Lanka) Limited RAM Ratings was formerly known as Lanka Rating Agency Ltd and and is a subsidiary of Malaysian parent company RAM Holdings Berhad. RAM Ratings is based in Sri Lanka. View Website Rating and Investment Information, Inc Based in Japan, the capitalization of R&I stands at nearly 590 million yen. It, along with nine other agencies, sits on the US NRSRO list. It was established in 1975. View Website Seoul Credit Rating & Information, Inc SCI is based in Korea and was established in 1992. It is a KOSDAQ listed corporate. View Website Shanghai Credit Information Services Co. Ltd CIS are based in China and provide credit rating information for investors. Please note the website is not available in English. View Website SME Rating Agency of India Limited (SMERA) SMERA is a joint initiative by numerous Indian banks, SIDBI and D&D View Website Taiwan Ratings, Corp. (TCR) TCR are an S&P's partner for Taiwan. View Website Thai Rating and Information Services Co., Ltd. (TRIS) TRIS is a credit ratings agency for Thailand. Please note the website is in Thai. View Website Trk KrediRating (TCRating) TCR is based in Istanbul, Turkey and provides ratings on a number of companies in Turkey. View Website Islamic International Rating Agency, B.S.C. (IIRA)

Based in Bahrain, IIRA provides transparency and information for the Islamic financial services industry. View Website