Sovereign and public finance ratings

With our distinctive approach to sovereign credit assessment, we assign two types of ratings: sovereign government credit ratings and country credit environment ratings. The former rating reflects Rating-Agentur Expert RA GmbH assessment on the ability of the government to fulfill in due time its financial obligations, while the latter indicates our assessment on the level of recovery of investments in government and private debt obligations in the country, as well as the quality of the credit climate.

Our analytical models were recently revamped based on our immense experience in the CIS countries to cover regions located all over the globe. We use both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the current and potential risks.

Corporate ratings

The Agency conducts rating assessments on the basis of three main factors: market position, financial risks and corporate governance and risk management. Moreover, ratings are adjusted for systemic risk using our Banking Sector Risk (BSR) assessment from the countries where the bank operates. Our criteria considers a combination of the latest banking industry regulations in the post-crisis world and a series of factors adjusted for the entity’s peer institutions.

For insurance companies, we assign reliability ratings after judging external factors of stability and corporate governance, company financial indicators, and those applying specifically to the insurance business. Furthermore, the score is adapted for overall market risks using our Insurance Sector Risk (ISR) assessment from the countries in which the insurance company writes its premiums.

By examining three pillars of a non-financial corporation, such as, business risk, financial risk, and corporate risk, we assign a credit rating which reflects the ability of the company to completely fulfill its financial liabilities in a timely manner. We adjust this rating for systemic risk using our Country and Industry Risk (CIR) assessment where the corporation has operations. The main users of the rating are creditors, but it is also valuable to investors and counterparties of the company.