Fitch Ratings revamps governance standards for corporate finance
Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency announced today its revision of the corporate finance criteria on corporate governance.
The rating report, Evaluating Corporate Governance: Jurisdictional and Issuer Specific Consideration, updates and replaces the previous report, Evaluating Corporate Governance: The Bondholders’ Perspective, dated Dec. 12, 2007, the company said.
Dually headquartered in New York and London, the ratings agency points out that the revised summary outlines the techniques used by the international credit ratings agency when assessing the overall effect of corporate governance, which serves as an element in the credit ratings process. The primary focus is on evaluating both the jurisdictional environment in which an issuer operates as well as the specific issuer characteristics that could have an impact on future ratings.
Moreover, when evaluating issuer specific matters, Fitch Ratings plans on paying attention on board effectiveness, management effectiveness, transparency of financial information and related-party transactions.
According to the company, the revisions made to the report includes the additional focus on jurisdictional matters and dissecting both jurisdictional and issuer specific characteristics into three categories: those characteristics that are neutral to ratings; those characteristics that may limit ratings and those characteristics that will likely have a negative impact on ratings.
The updated criteria report can be viewed at Fitch Ratings
