Credit Rating Actions

Credit rating actions are a common feature of the work of credit rating agencies.

Before a rating is downgraded or confirmed, the respective issuer or issue is usually placed on a special list, which can have different names in the leading rating agencies: “Watchlist”, “Credit Watch” or “Rating Watch”, to name a few.

All agencies’ priority is always to get the rating appropriate as quickly as possible, even if a rating change is not signaled in advance because of unanticipated circumstances. Credit ratings express forward-looking opinions about the creditworthiness of issuers and obligations.

More specifically, credit ratings express a relative ranking of creditworthiness. The primary factor in the analysis of creditworthiness is likelihood of default, although payment priority, potential recovery following default, and credit stability are factors that can also play a role in the assessment of credit risk. Credit ratings incorporate an assessment of future events to the extent they can be anticipated. However, the potential for future performance to differ from initial expectations has to be recognized. Outlooks and watchlistings address this possibility by focusing on the scenarios that could result in a rating change.

RATING©WATCH is a brand name and trademark of RATING EVIDENCE GmbH, not to be confused with the “Rating Watch” from Fitch Ratings or similar offers from other credit rating agencies. There are no reproductions of watch lists from these agencies on this website. If you are looking for watch listings from these or other agencies, please visit the agencies’ websites.