CRIF Rating Agency and Informa D&B Sign an Agreement to Develop CRIF Ratings in Spain

Atlanta, GA, October 19, 2013 --(PR.com)-- CRIF Rating Agency has announced its entry into the Spanish market through a partnership with Informa D&B. CRIF ratings will give investors an alternative and independent opinion on the creditworthness of Spanish companies.

Specifically, the two companies have signed a collaborative agreement through which CRIF, the ESMA-registered (European Security Market Authority) Credit Rating Agency, will extend its activities to the Spanish market, where it will draw on the well-established experience and unique information assets of Informa D&B to issue both solicited and unsolicited ratings of local businesses.

CRIF Rating Agency's experience as a European company and its specific expertise in assessing companies, including medium-sized enterprises which are typical of many European countries, are brought together with the information assets of Informa D&B, second to none in terms of coverage, quality and updating, and its widespread presence in the corporate market. This will allow a broad range of Spanish companies to have access to ratings which are recognized in the financial markets and, as a result, to capital markets, facilitating concrete and effective development of the new MARF (Alternative Fixed-Income Market).

“CRIF has well-established and recognized experience in credit risk assessment in Europe and we have achieved a position of leadership in Italy for the rating of medium-sized companies who want to get closer to the capital market,” stated Silvia Ghielmetti, President of CRIF Rating Agency. "CRIF Rating Agency has been chosen both by companies approaching the capital market for the first time and which have issued the first 'minibonds', and by the first funds dedicated to SMEs. For this reason we are sure that in Spain, with the support of Informa D&B and its in-depth knowledge of the local market, we can offer accurate and reliable ratings which will help develop alternatives to banking credit in the country."

Juan Ma Sainz Muñoz, CEO of Informa D&B, stated that “Even though the Credit Rating Agency (CRA) business model is not the same as that of companies supplying business and financial information, we have identified a series of synergies which have encouraged us to enter the 'debt market', currently in the development phase in Spain, with new regulatory rating services. One of the pillars of the CRA regulations is the promotion of reliability and trust, and for this reason we are convinced that with the entry of CRIF Rating Agency into the market through Informa, we can successfully meet the demand for ratings, which is rapidly evolving in the MARF.”

The CRIF Rating Agency rating scale respects the customary classification (from AAA to D), internationally recognized by financial market operators. Furthermore, the issue of ratings by CRIF involves a process which combines both quantitative and qualitative analyses, involving the processing of all the information required to assess companies. Analysis concludes with the preparation of a dossier and a rating proposal by CRIF rating analysts. Finally, the rating proposal is submitted to an independent deliberative body for the rating decision which, as set out by the European Regulation on Rating Agencies, is then communicated in advance to the rated entity.

The rating process may involve both meetings and interviews with management from the rated entities, as well as an exchange of internal information from these companies. CRIF regulatory ratings are subject to continuous monitoring, which involves a review in the event of significant changes to the information.