RATING AGENCIES: The Risk of Over‐reliance on Ratings An “Insider’s” View
Markus Krebsz, MSI SII Risk Forum, London ‐ 24 Feb 2009
CONTENT • • • • • •
Overview Ratings Application Constructive criticism Risks/Mitigants Questions & close
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OVERVIEW
QUESTION 1: How many (Credit) rating agencies exist globally? 3 to 5
6 to 15
16 to 30
More than 30 4
1) A.M. Best Company, Inc. 2) Agusto & Co. Ltd. 3) Ahbor Rating 4) Apoyo & Asociados Internacionales S.A.C. 5) Bank Watch Ratings S.A. 6) BRC Investor Services S.A. 7) Calificadora de Riesgo, PCA 8) Capital Intelligence, Ltd. 9) Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services Ltd. (CariCRIS) 10) Central European Rating Agency (CERA) 11) Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. 12) China Lianhe Credit Rating, Co. Ltd. 13) Clasificadora de Riesgo Humphreys, Ltda. 14) Class y Asociados S.A. Clasificadora de Riesgo 15) CMC International, Ltd. 16) Companhia Portuguesa de Rating, SA (CPR) 17) Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE) 18) Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh, Ltd. (CRAB) 19) Credit Rating Information and Services, Ltd. (CRISL) 20) CRISIL, Ltd. 21) Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., Ltd. 22) Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) 23) Duff & Phelps de Colombia, S.A., S.C.V 24) Ecuability, SA 25) Egan‐Jones Rating Company 26) Equilibrium Clasificadora de Riesgo 27) European Rating Agency (ERA) 28) Feller Rate Clasificadora de Riesgo 29) Fitch Ratings, Ltd. 30) Global Credit Rating Co. 31) Interfax Rating Agency (IRA) 32) Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) Source: www.defaultrisk.com
33) Islamic International Rating Agency, B.S.C. (IIRA) 34) Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR) 35) JCR‐VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. 36) Korea Investors Service, Inc. (KIS) 37) Korea Ratings Corporation 38) Lanka Rating Agency, Ltd. (LRA) 39) Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC) 40) Mikuni & Co., Ltd. 41) Moody's Investors Service 42) National Information & Credit Evaluation, Inc. (NICE) 43) ONICRA Credit Rating Agency of India, Ltd. 44) P.T. Kasnic Credit Rating Indonesia ‐‐ Indonesia 45) P.T. PEFINDO Credit Rating Indonesia 46) Pacific Credit Rating (PCR) 47) Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (PACRA) 48) Philippine Rating Services, Corp. (PhilRatings) 49) RAM Rating Services Berhad (RAM) 50) Rapid Ratings International, Inc. 51) Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) 52) Rus Ratings 53) Seoul Credit Rating & Information, Inc. 54) Shanghai Credit Information Services Co., Ltd. 55) Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. 56) Slovak Rating Agency, a.s. (SRA) 57) SME Rating Agency of India Limited (SMERA) 58) Sociedad Calificadora de Riesgo Centroamericana, S.A. (SCRiesgo) 59) Standard and Poors (S&P) 60) Taiwan Ratings, Corp. (TCR) 61) Thai Rating and Information Services Co., Ltd. (TRIS) 62) TheStreet.com Ratings, Inc. 63) Türk KrediRating (TCRating) 64) Veribanc, Inc.
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QUESTION 2: AAA (Fitch) = AAA (S&P) = Aaa (Moody’s)?
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RATING PRINCIPLES Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s: Probability of default (PD) = First dollar of loss Î What is the ultimate default risk? Moody’s: Expected loss (EL) = [(PD) X (LGD)] Î What is the amount of net loss suffered? 7
QUESTION 3: D (Fitch) = D (S&P) = D (Moody’s)?
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RATINGS MAPPING TABLE Fitch Ratings
Investment Grade
Long-term rating
Short-term rating
AAA AA+
F1+
Long-term rating
Standard & Poors
Short-term rating
Long-term rating
Aaa
AAA
Aa1
AA+
Short-term rating
Mapped internal r a t i n g iAAA iAA+
A-1+ AA
Aa2
AA-
P1
AA
iAA
Aa3
AA-
iAA-
A1
A+
A-1
iA+
A
A-1 or A-2
iA
F1+ or F1 A+ A
F1
A2
A-
F1 or F2
A3
P-1 or P-2
AP-2
iAA-2
BBB+
F2
Baa1
BBB
F2 or F3
Baa2
P-2 or P-3
BBB
A-2 or A-3
iBBB
BBB-
F3
Baa3
P-3
BBB-
A-3
iBBB-
BB+ BB
Speculative Grade
Moody’s
B
BB-
BBB+
Ba1
BB+
Ba2
BB
Ba3
BB-
iBBB+
iBB+ iBB B Ranges within B-1, B-2 and B-3
iBB-
B+
B1
B+
B
B2
B
iB
B-
B3
B-
iB-
Caa1
CCC+
iCCC+
CCC
Caa2
CCC
iCCC
CCC-
Caa3
CCC-
CC
Ca
CC
iCC
C
C
C
iC
CCC+
Not Prime
iB+
C
DDD, DD, D
D
Source: Bloomberg, Fitch, Moody’s and S&P
Moody’s: D
D
C
D
iCCC-
iD
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QUESTION 4: SF Bond 1 rated AAA (Fitch/ S&P/ Moody’s) = SF Bond 2 rated AAA (Fitch/ S&P/ Moody’s)?
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SUPER‐SENIOR RATINGS Structure 1 Tranche 1: Tranche 2: Tranche 3: Tranche 4: Tranche 5: Tranche 6: First Loss piece:
Structure 2 AAA AA+ A BBB‐ BB B+ NR
Tranche 1: Tranche 2: Tranche 3: Tranche 4: Tranche 5: Tranche 6: Tranche 7: Tranche 8 First Loss piece:
AAA AA AAA A AAA AA+ A BBB‐ BB B+ NR 11
RATINGS
RATING DEFINITION • An opinion… * [Financial journalists] • …on the relative ability… • …of an entity to meet financial commitments. *
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Ratings are benchmark measures of… • Probability of default (PD) • Expectations of Loss given default (LGD) 13
RATINGS… …can capture:
…do NOT capture:
• Credit risk
a Market risk a a Liquidity risk a a Operational risk a a Basis risk (IR risk) a
…and are “hard‐wired”… • by Basel II • into banks’ credit rating models • Investment guidelines and Asset management mandates
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STATISTICAL: Probability of Default
Source: Fitch Ratings
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RATINGS SCOPE • Public • Private • Credit assessment • Market‐Implied ratings (CDS, Equity, Spread, Price etc.) 16
RATING ACTIONS Rating DEAL STAGE • Preliminary • Final • Paid in Full (PIF) / Redemption INDICATORS • Upgrade, Downgrade • Affirmation / Confirmation • Withdrawn
Suffix RATING WATCH • Positive • Negative • Evolving / Uncertain OUTLOOK • Positive • Negative • Stable 17
APPLICATION
RATINGS are used by … Banks, Other Financial Institutions, Originators & Issuers, Investors, Financial Regulators, Other Rating agencies, etc. …
in order to … • • • •
Outsource analysis Determine required economic and regulatory capital charges Manage individual credit & portfolio risks Feature as input into Structured Finance models (CDO2 etc.)
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CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
FAILURES AIG, Bear Stearns, Bradford & Bingley, Enron, Icelandic banks, Lehman Bros., Monolines, Northern Rock, Parmalat, etc. In their own words...
Fitch: “… did not foresee the magnitude of the decline…or the dramatic shift in borrower behavior…”
Moody’s: “We did not . . . anticipate the magnitude and speed of the deterioration in mortgage quality or the suddenness of the transition to restrictive lending.”
S&P: “it is now clear that a number of assumptions used in preparing ratings on mortgage‐backed securities issued between 2005 and mid‐2007 did not work.” Source: US Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Oct 2008 21
CRITICISM • • • • • • • •
Business model: Too slow to react Assumptions, methodologies & models Conflict of interest (“issuer‐pays” model) Limited capture Split ratings Notching Implied ratings & internal competition etc. 22
THE RISKS OF OVER‐RELIANCE ‐ AND SUITABLE MITIGANTS
TIMELY ACTIONS and DEFERRAL Rating process: Timeliness of Rating changes
Rating scope vs. time: Bond maturity profile
• Process stages to reach rating decisions • Detection of bond‐ vs. asset class‐specific and/or systemic issues
• Legal final vs. expected final maturity • Life‐time ratings (40+ years) • Timely payment of interest & ultimate payment of principal
31 July 07 Cut-off date
20 Aug 07 CRA analyst
31 Aug 07 Proposal: RWN
9 Oct 07 CRA Analyst
16 Oct 07 Proposal: DG
25 Oct 07 Indiv. or Asset-class?
Report format & frequency, Analyst’s experience, Models, Quorum ... 15 Aug 07 Distribution
27 Aug 07 1st Analysis result
25 Sept 07 1st Committee
12 Oct 07 2nd Analysis result
23 Oct 07 2nd Committee
You get the idea...
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TIME‐LAG of RATING ACTIONS
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OPERATIONAL RISKS • Changing methodologies and assumptions • Timeliness of rating decisions • Model risks • Striking the right balance between non‐ and over‐regulation 26
RISK MITIGANTS Understanding the meaning of ratings Understanding instruments’ risks Independent analysis Internal ratings Disputing rating decisions and methodologies with the agencies – is it really worth it? • Operational risk scenario: Awareness that agencies CAN and DO get their ratings wrong • • • • •
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QUESTIONS & CLOSE
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Q & A For the Risk Forum
1. Has this presentation changed your view and perception of Ratings (= Opinion)? 2. Would you now give CRA more or less credit? 3. Do you think that CRAs should be properly regulated?
For the Presenter Q1)…? Q2)…? Q3)…?
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CONTACT Markus Krebsz +44 (0) 79 85 065 045
[email protected] markus.krebsz@4‐most.co.uk
4most Linen Hall 162‐168 Regents Street London, W1B 5TE Tel. +44 (0) 207 038 3690 www.4‐most.co.uk
ANNEX: Ratings & Probability of Default (PD) 1 year Moodys
5 year S&P
Fitch
Moodys
10 year S&P
Fitch
Moodys
S&P
Fitch
Aaa
0.00%
AAA
0.00%
0.00%
Aaa
0.18%
AAA
0.10%
0.11%
Aaa
0.40%
AAA
0.45%
0.37%
Aa1
0.00%
AA+
0.00%
0.00%
Aa1
0.15%
AA+
0.16%
0.11%
Aa1
0.25%
AA+
0.34%
0.47%
Aa2
0.00%
AA
0.00%
0.00%
Aa2
0.28%
AA
0.15%
0.14%
Aa2
0.67%
AA
0.77%
0.68%
Aa3
0.00%
AA-
0.02%
0.01%
Aa3
0.18%
AA-
0.52%
0.25%
Aa3
0.33%
AA-
1.11%
0.91%
A1
0.00%
A+
0.05%
0.02%
A1
0.38%
A+
0.64%
0.41%
A1
0.84%
A+
1.68%
1.30%
A2
0.03%
A
0.04%
0.04%
A2
0.68%
A
0.42%
0.57%
A2
1.69%
A
1.80%
1.78%
A3
0.03%
A-
0.04%
0.04%
A3
0.65%
A-
0.86%
0.75%
A3
1.69%
A-
2.44%
1.91%
Baa1
0.17%
BBB+
0.22%
0.22%
Baa1
1.46%
BBB+
2.30%
1.82%
Baa1
2.31%
BBB+
4.65%
3.82%
Baa2
0.12%
BBB
0.28%
0.21%
Baa2
2.11%
BBB
2.17%
2.14%
Baa2
5.49%
BBB
5.27%
5.61%
Baa3
0.41%
BBB-
0.39%
0.42%
Baa3
3.60%
BBB-
4.94%
4.03%
Baa3
7.20%
BBB-
8.97%
8.23%
Ba1
0.66%
BB+
0.56%
0.63%
Ba1
6.76%
BB+
6.47%
6.19%
Ba1
12.38%
BB+
11.74% 12.25%
Ba2
0.62%
BB
0.95%
0.90%
Ba2
8.82%
BB
9.98%
8.37%
Ba2
14.66%
BB
17.34% 17.08%
Ba3
2.23%
BB-
1.76%
2.05%
Ba3
19.14%
BB-
15.03% 15.92%
Ba3
36.24%
BB-
24.97% 30.27%
B1
3.03%
B+
3.01%
3.10%
B1
25.27%
B+
20.86% 21.53%
B1
47.43%
B+
30.15% 38.18%
B2
5.93%
B
8.34%
7.24%
B2
31.24%
B
29.44% 27.84%
B2
44.48%
B
36.29% 41.06%
B3
10.77%
B-
12.15% 11.71%
B3
43.55%
B-
37.71% 39.23%
B3
62.32%
B-
45.05% 53.69%
Caa-C 22.24%
CCC/C 28.83% 25.54%
Caa-C 60.40%
CCC/C 50.85% 53.55%
Caa-C 78.81%
CCC/C 56.45% 65.07%
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