Moody's

S&P

Fitch

Long-term Short-term Long-term Short-term Long-term Short-term

Aaa

AAA

AAA

Prime

Aa1

AA+ A-1+

AA+ F1+ AA High grade

Aa2 P-1 Aa3

AA

AA-

AA-

A1

A+ A-1

A+ F1 A Upper medium grade

A2

A3 P-2 Baa1

AA-2 BBB+

AF2 BBB+

Baa2 P-3 Baa3

BBB A-3 BBB-

BBB F3 BBB-

Lower medium grade

Ba1

BB+

BB+

Ba2

Not prime

BB

BB

Non-investment grade speculative

Ba3

BB-

BB-

B1

B+

B+

B2

Highly speculative

B3

B-

B-

Caa1

CCC+

Substantial risks

Caa2

CCC

Extremely speculative

Caa3

CCC-

CCC

CC Ca C

In default with little prospect for recovery

DDD

DD

In default

Top 10 Credit Rating Agencies of the world

Here is the list of Top 10 Credit Rating Agencies of the world. These agencies are Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 1. MODDYS

Moodys is the oldest credit rating agency. It is also the first rating agency to be recognized by NRSRO in 1975. The company became public in 2000. It has been earning huge profits. Average profit margin was 53% from 2000 to 2007. Structured finance products was its top source of revenue by 2000. 2. Standard & Poors

The agency is owned by Mc Graw-Hill Inc. It has been published any stock indices of the world, most famous being S&P 500 index which is the most watched index in the world. McGraw-Hill reported a net profit margin of 12.6 percent for 2008. 3. Fitch

Fitch is smallest among the top three agencies. It is a part of Fitch Group, a subsidiary of Fimalac S.A FIM.PA. Was the third agency to become an NRSRO in 1975. From 1975 to 1992, four other agencies were recognized as NRSROs and all subsequently merged with Fitch. 4. DBRS

DBRS is privately owned Canadian ratings agency. Has been the top ratings agency in Canada for 30 years. It became the fourth NRSRO in 2003. DBRS believes that it can compete with the big three but is not favored by authorities. 5. Egan-Jones

Egan-Jones is a Philadelphia-based agency founded in 1995. It was granted NRSRO status in December 2007 after a nine-year process. Although they are paid by investor-subscribers, Egan-Jones will give out their ratings to anyone who asks. 6. A.M Best

A.M Best was founded in 1899 in New York City and became an NRSRO in 2005. It specializes exclusively on the

insurance marketplace and so not a competitor with the others per se. But has recently begun issuing debt and financial-strange ratings for small and mid-sized commercial banks. 7. Japan Credit Rating Agency Limited

Japan Credit rating Agency was established in 1985 and based in Tokyo and it became an NRSRO in 2007. It is a small agency when compared to competitors. it has a staff of just 90. 8. Rating and Investment Information Inc

The second Japanese credit ratings agency to become an NRSRO in 2007. It was set up in 1975, now based in Nihonbashi. New York office was set up in 2005. 9. LACE Financial

It was founded in 1984, and became a NRSRO in 2008. The second NRSRO after Egan-Jones to operate on investor-paid business model. 10. Realpoint LLC

Realpoint LLC became a NRSRO in 2008. It is one of the smallest NRSROs and is paid by issuers. Obtained an exemption in 2008 from the SEC regulation that an NRSRO is prohibited from rating an issuer that contributes 10 percent or more of its revenue.