News (archived)

2021

• Nov 8, 2021: Guest authors Dennis Shen and Levon Kameryan present Scope Ratings’ latest annual external vulnerability and resilience risk assessment framework, evaluating countries’ exposure to external-sector risk under current conditions of high uncertainty. The framework is based upon eight core indicators divided along two axes: external vulnerability and external resilience – read the blog article.
• Oct 23, 2021: We have added 26 rated cryptocurrencies and -tokens. In total there are now 252 available rated cryptoassets on Wikirating. For the sake of transparency we also publish unrated cryptoassets. Moreover we also have updated our top 100 cryptoasset list (by market cap) – view the updated list.
• Oct 20, 2021: Now it’s official: After 10 years we have a brand new website! Apart from the framework (we switched from MediaWiki to WordPress) and the design, we also cleaned up the whole platform. More than 1’000 content sites and more than 600 user accounts have been migrated. We also have imported our Wikirating Blog site with all articles. Of course some technical background processes have been optimized as well. We hope that you like our new website – if you have ideas and proposals, feel free to contact us!
• Oct 3, 2021: We celebrate our special Anniversary! 10 years ago Wikirating officially went online. Since then a lot happened. Similar initiatives for unbiased credit ratings, such as INCRA (supported by the Bertelsmann Foundation) or an ‘European Rating Agency’ (supported by Roland Berger management consultancy), failed a couple of years ago – but not Wikirating. We are very proud that we managed to continue our engagement for transparent and unbiased credit ratings until today. There still is a long path to go, but we are very confident about our future. This month we will announce some exciting news – stay tuned!
• Aug 11, 2021: Resilience and New Ways to Rate a Company – by Wikirating supporter Dr. Jacek Marczyk – Probability of Default (PoD) of a company is the central concept behind a conventional rating. Ratings constitute a fundamental link between markets and investors. Their importance cannot be overstated. However, traditional ratings, according to the Credit Rating Agencies themselves, are merely opinions … read the full article (external link)
• Jul 9, 2021: Every Country deserves an unbiased Sustainable Credit Rating. Our planet is on fire – the environmental protection and the sustainable usage of our global resources are one of the most urgent topics humanity has to solve. Unfortunately, most countries still don’t act with the necessary seriousness and decisiveness… read our blog article.
• Jun 30, 2021: Crypto ratings for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple,… how did they evolved during the last 6 months? A brief analysis of eight important cryptoassets – read our blog article.
• Feb 19, 2021: For the first time, all known crypto rating agencies around the world are published in a list – check the list here.
• Jan 11, 2021: With Bitcoin’s 12^th birthday and a recent all time high, Wikirating adds the new ‘Cryptoasset list’ for 244 cryptocurrencies and -tokens and announce to join forces with Baserank and Weiss Crypto Ratings for supporting independent crypto ratings – read our press release article.
• Jan 4, 2021: Letter from Bill Harrington, experts board member of Wikirating: “Flip Clause Questions to CFTC, SEC, LSTA, SFA, DBRS, Fitch, Moody’s and S&P” – read the whole letter….
• Jan 1, 2021: Amid the CORONA-19 pandemic, Wikirating has updated 186 country ratings – more than any common credit rating agency, read our blog article for the detailed results.

 

2020

• Oct 26^th, 2020: TOP 5 – SWISS RISK AWARD 2020 – Wikirating is within the top 5 nominated individuals/teams for the Swiss Risk Award 2020 – see external link.
• Oct 10^th, 2020: The section of ‘credit rating history data’ has been updated – see Portal:Data.
• Aug 20^th, 2020: The Accuracy of Country Risk Ratings – This blog article focuses on the shocks that may affect firms involved in business relations abroad. There are three main reasons for studying shocks… – see blog article.
• Aug 3^rd, 2020: Dennis Shen, macroeconomist and a Director in sovereign ratings, explains in his blog article how the leading European rating agency distinguishes itself from the US rating agencies.
• Jul 6^th, 2020: The last AAA countries in the world – a short blog post about the “Triple-A Ivy League” – see blog article.
• Jun 26^th, 2020: Starting from today, Wikirating is including in the list of countries by credit rating also the sovereign credit ratings from Scope Ratings – beside S&P, Moody’s and Fitch. This is a contribution to offer the possibility to compare at a glance the credit ratings from one of the most relevant pure European credit rating agencies with the American “Big Three” – see blog article.
• Jun 20^th, 2020: 10 years ago Dorian Credé registered the domain ‘wikirating.org’ – see blog article.
• Jun 14^th, 2020: “The most complete List of Credit Rating Agencies” – We are regularly checking and updating the list of known credit rating agencies (CRAs) (and organizations) in the world – see blog article.
• May 6^th, 2020: Wikirating has updated the list of countries by credit rating – 18 countries have updated values.
• Jan 28^th, 2020: Bill Harrington former Moody’s SVP and Wikirating Experts Board Member, urges everyone to hound credit rating agencies to embed each credit rating with an ESG upgrade, downgrade or wash. Read his op-ed “Investors who want to fast-track sustainable fixed-income investments should inundate credit rating agencies with methodology critiques” on Responsible Investor.
• Jan 1^st, 2020: Wikirating has evaluated with the SWI (Sovereign Wikirating Index) the credit ratings of 181 sovereign countries – more than any common credit rating agency, read our blog article for the detailed results.

2019

• Dec 23^rd, 2019: Wikirating has updated the list of all Credit Rating Agencies and Organizations in the world – check the new updated list.
• Sep 14^th, 2019: Not The Nobel Prize – What was the nature of Bill Harringtons innovation and how did he contribute to humankind? He uses free speech that is highly informed, precisely targeted, and 100% on-the-record to reclaim public resources that the financial industry misallocates via “corporate free speech.” (read more…).
• Jun 26^th, 2019: Board Member Norbert Gaillard examines as a co-author in his latest book the long-term, previously underappreciated breakdowns in financial regulation that fed into the 2008 global financial crash (see Blog article “How and Why Moral Hazard Has Distorted Financial Regulation”).
• Mar 4^th, 2019: Board Member Bill Harrington urges the CFTC to preserve the rigorous policy with respect to the securitization sector (read more…).
• Jan 30^th, 2019: From Board Member Ann Rutledge: Did Academic Finance Play a Role in the Global Financial Crisis?.
• Jan 15^th, 2019: Norbert Gaillard, Wikirating Experts Board Member, explains in his article “The Icarus Syndrome: How Credit Rating Agencies Lost Their Quasi Immunity” the evolution of the status and the liability regime of rating agencies and further argues that they lost their regulatory and judicial “quasi-immunity” over the last decade.
• Jan 2^nd, 2019: There are at least 112 Credit Rating Agencies and Organizations in the world according to Wikirating – check the new updated list.

2018

• Dec 27^th, 2018: Wikirating updates 168 sovereign credit ratings – more than any other rating agency in the world.
• Dec 5^th, 2018: From Board Member Bill Harrington: Helping the US SEC Answer Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Inquiries into Leveraged Lending, CLOs, and NRSRO Ratings.
• May 22^nd, 2018: Wikirating Board Member Bill Harrington Files SEC Report on S&P Return to Crisis-Era Rating Practices for CLOs and Other ABS.
• Mar. 28^th, 2018: “CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) Nomination and Topic Submissions” from Wikirating Experts Board Member William Harrington – see his letter.
• Feb. 3^rd, 2018: “ABS Derivatives Too Complex for US Regulators” – read the perceptive letter “31 Misrepresentations in CFTC Letter No. 17-52” to Mr. Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – by Wikirating Experts Board Member William Harrington
• Jan. 27^th, 2018: With funding from the Center for Corporate and Securities Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, Wikirating experts board member Marc Joffe has implemented a routine that downloads histories from the major rating agencies, converts them to CSV format and places them in a single location.

2017

• Aug. 19^th, 2017: “Credible Sovereign Ratings: Beyond Statistics and Regulations” by Norbert Gaillard
• May 1^st, 2017: Republicans Immunize Rating Agencies from Accountability in Financial Choice Act. Read Bill Harrington‘s latest analysis.

2016

2015 – and earlier