What are rating agencies??

(A) Definition of rating agencies & What are they for

Here is an extract from Wikipedia:

A credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that assigns credit ratings for issuers of certain types of debt obligations. In most cases, these issuers are companies, cities, non-profit organizations, or national governments issuing debt-like securities that can be traded on a secondary market. A credit rating measures credit worthiness, the ability to pay back a loan, and affects the interest rate applied to loans. (A company that issues credit scores for individual credit-worthiness is generally called a credit bureau or consumer credit reporting agency.)

Interest rates are not the same for everyone, but instead are based on risk-based pricing, a form of price discrimination based on the different expected costs of different borrowers, as set out in their credit rating. There exist more than 100 rating agencies worldwide.

(B) Common credit rating agencies
- Moody's
- Standard & Poor
- Fitch

(C) Relationship with credit risk management - extracted from Moody's website

Credit ratings and research help investors analyze the credit risks associated with fixed-income securities. Such independent credit ratings and research also contribute to efficiencies in fixed-income markets and other obligations, such as insurance policies and derivative transactions, by providing credible and independent assessments of credit risk.

Moody's default studies validate our predictive ratings. Published research and investor briefings, that draw thousands of attendees each year, keep investors current with the rationale for our credit opinions.

In addition to its ratings services, Moody's publishes investor-oriented credit research, including in-depth research on major debt issuers, industry studies, special comments and credit opinion handbooks. While research, analysis and data are delivered through a number of channels, most of Moody's clients use www.moodys.com for access to such services in a real-time environment.