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Rating
The allocation of a grade by a recognized specialized agency to certain issuers or issued securities for evaluation and classification purposes, based on the quality of the securities, their risk for investors and the issuer's ability to meet its financial commitments; the result of such allocation.
Each agency has its own rating scale, expressed in letters (for example AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, etc. for Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Investors Service and DBRS, Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B, etc. for Moody’s Investor Service, the highest rating generally being triple A); the letters are sometimes followed by figures (for example, Aa1, A2, Ca3 for Moody’s), other letters (for example, H (high) and L (low) for DBRS) or the signs + or - (for example A+, BB-, C+ for Standard & Poor’s and Fitch) to specify the rating further or to mark a trend.
Translations
Synonyms and variations
- Credit rating
- Credit scoring