Search results for: “"Scope Ratings"”
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Scope Ratings Affirms KfW’s AAA Rating: A Critical Analysis of Practical Implications
In its latest rating assessment, Scope Ratings has reaffirmed the AAA issuer rating of KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), Germany’s governmental development bank, with a stable outlook. This decision mirrors the credit stance of its principal backer, the Federal Republic of Germany, which holds a parallel AAA/stable sovereign credit rating. Notably, the reaffirmation applies equally to…
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ESMA Fines Scope Ratings Over EUR 2 Million for Conflict of Interest Breaches, Highlighting Need for Timely Regulatory Decisions
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the chief regulator and supervisor for the EU’s financial markets, has levied a significant fine of EUR 2,197,500 against Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope) for violating the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation (CRA Regulation). This action stems from Scope’s failure to meet the CRA Regulation’s demands regarding the management of…
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Scope Ratings: Conflicts of Interest Become Apparent from one Day to the Next
The timing of two significant announcements within a span of two days could hardly have been more ill-fated for Scope Ratings GmbH (see Scope Group, The Pitfalls of Close Ties: Examining the Nexus Between Central Banks and Rating Agencies). In conclusion, the juxtaposition of these two announcements within such a short timeframe creates a narrative…
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Scope Ratings Introduces New Methodology for Services Companies and Invites Feedback
Scope Ratings, a Berlin credit rating agency, has unveiled its proposal for a Consumer and Business Services Methodology designed to augment its existing General Corporate Rating Methodology. The new framework is tailored for European consumer and business services companies and incorporates a comprehensive array of industry-specific risk drivers. Scope Ratings welcomes comments on the proposed…
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Scope Ratings’ Failure to Downgrade Ilija Batljan Invest: A Missed Opportunity
Scope Ratings GmbH, a prominent rating agency, recently downgraded Ilija Batljan Invest AB (IB Invest) to CCC/Negative from BB+/under review for a possible downgrade, sparking concerns about the agency’s timeliness in assessing the company’s risks. This downgrade came after a period of the ratings being under review, during which time the company’s financial health deteriorated…
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Scope Ratings’ appendage methodology
With 16 extensive appendices to only 7 pages of methodology, the new methodology from Scope Ratings sets a new record for imbalance. Scope has updated its covered bond rating methodology, which will now be applied to all covered bond ratings. The update aims to provide further clarity and refinement to Scope’s analytical approach without impacting…
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Scope Ratings’ Investment Holding Company Rating Methodology
The Berlin rating agency Scope Ratings has published a new rating methodology specifically designed for investment holding companies. This methodology “Investment Holding Companies Rating Methodology – Corporates” has undergone a call-for-comments period and has now been finalized. It will be applied to all issuer and debt ratings of investment holding companies. However, the methodology is…
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After Greensill, Scope Ratings Also Fails at UniCredit
A skipped coupon payment is not at all typical for a bank rated “A”.
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Some City Councilors Reproach the Use of Scope Ratings Instead of S&P’s and Moody’s
In the city parliament of Giessen, the processing of the affair about the threatened loss of financial investments at the Greensill Bank has begun.
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Two Are On The Supervisory Board Of Greensill Bank. Then Why Scope Ratings And Not GBB-Rating?
A Complicated Choice Between Conflicts of Interest. The rating of an independent credit rating agency is a valuable source of information also for the supervisory board of a company, especially for the supervisory board of a bank. The thoroughness of the analysis by credit rating analysts helps to understand the external view onto the company…
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Scope Ratings Game of Corporate Law
The “Scope Group” is a bunch of constant changes under company law. As a result of the Scope Ratings GmbH billion Euro scandal about Greensill Bank in Bermen, which was rated as “investment grade” for the first time in 2019 and is now insolvent, the precise activities of this local rating agency in Berlin have…
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Why Scope Ratings Never Cares for Profits
The multi-layered shareholder structure allows for an ingenious business model.
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Scope Ratings’ Ancillary Services for Greensill Bank
Scope Ratings’ hint to possible additional payments by Greensill Bank to the Berlin rating agency leaves questions unanswered.
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Do Not Confuse Moody’s with Scope Ratings
A bond fund rating is not a bank issuer rating.
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Unique Multi-layered Ownership Structure at Scope Ratings
In a week, the search queries for the Scope scandal have increased significantly.
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Taxpayers Ultimately Become Victims of Scope Ratings
The Berlin rating agency Scope has top politicians on board who are already drawing high pensions. These politicians now indirectly cost the taxpayer even more.
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Reach and Scope of Scope Ratings
Google Trends provides access to a largely unfiltered sample of actual search requests made to Google. It’s anonymized, because no one is personally identified. It is also categorized, i.e. determining the topic for a search query, and aggregated, i.e. grouped together. This way it displays interest in a particular topic from around the globe or…
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Deutsche Konsum REIT Faces Further Downgrade After Failing to Impress at Deutsche Börse’s Equity Forum
Deutsche Konsum REIT-AG (DKR), a German commercial real estate company, is grappling with a challenging financial situation, prompting Scope Ratings GmbH to downgrade its issuer rating from BB+/Stable to B. The recent disappointing performance at Deutsche Börse’s equity forum has exacerbated the company’s troubles, and the latest message from Scope further underscores the severity of…
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Scope Affirms A+ Rating for SPIRE Series 2022-308: A Closer Look at the Optimism
Scope Ratings GmbH recently affirmed an A+ rating for Single Platform Investment Repackaging Entity SA’s (SPIRE) Series 2022-308 notes, a EUR 120.9 million issuance of repackaged installment notes of Czech collateral due in 2032. The rating action, conducted on July 27, 2023, highlights Scope’s positive outlook on the credit quality and characteristics of the underlying…
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Political Risks Cast Shadows on ORF’s Ratings Outlook
Österreichischer Rundfunk Stiftung öffentlichen Rechts (ORF), Austria’s public service broadcaster, has recently received an Outlook revision to Negative from Stable by Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope). While the rating agency has affirmed ORF’s AA long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings, the shift in Outlook reflects the challenges posed by the political risk associated with its…
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Scope overly optimistic for Corem
A Berlin credit rating agency, Scope Ratings, affirms a BBB- rating of Corem Property Group AB, and revises its Outlook to Negative. The rating affirmation might be considered overly optimistic for the following reasons: In addition, there are the following aspects: Given these factors, the BBB- rating with a Negative Outlook might be considered overly…
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Casino spins
The recent rating action by Scope Ratings GmbH downgraded the issuer ratings of Casino, Guichard-Perrachon S.A. (Casino) and its guaranteed subsidiary Quatrim S.A.S. from B to CC. The ratings are under review for a possible further downgrade. The senior unsecured debt rating was downgraded from B- to C, the senior secured debt rating was downgraded…
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A doubtful future in Sweden
Evolution from stable to negative, as expected (see RATING.REPAIR): Ilija Batljan Invest AB (IB Invest) is a Swedish holding company with a dominant core holding in SBB i Norden. SBB i Norden is a real estate company or an entity involved in real estate investments. The company has recently proposed postponing its dividend payments, leading…
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Descent as expected
Credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (SBB), a Swedish landlord, to ‘BB+’ from ‘BBB-‘, due to high leverage and tightening liquidity, and assigned a negative outlook. SBB’s committed credit facilities have halved in the first quarter and the company has significant short-term debt maturities of over SEK 14 billion…
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Scope Downgrades Ilija Batljan Invest AB to BB+/Stable from BBB-/Stable
Ilija Batljan Invest’s deteriorated total cost coverage and increase in leverage, which Scope does not expect to recover in the short-to-medium term, drive the downgrade. It happened the way it had to. Here on RATING.REPAIR, we pointed out two years ago that the rating of this company needs to be repaired. Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope)…
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A “Security” That Loses 20% in a Single Day
Around 20% fall in the stock market in a single day – that’s the report for Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget I Norden AB Class B shares today, Thursday, July 14, 2022. Stocks with such loss potential can hardly promise the security to warrant an investment grade rating for the investment company holding those stocks. “Scope affirm’s Ilija Batljan…
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Incline Downwards
It came as it had to come – there is news about this rating, reported today: The credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings today announced that they are confirming Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (publ)’s investment grade rating BBB- and outlook has been updated to negative from stable. SBB has BBB-rating with positive outlook from Fitch…
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Scope Relies on Political Intervention
“Uniper withdraws its 2022 financial outlook amid Russian gas supply restrictions” – That’s the title of an action-free press release from a Berlin rating agency, called Scope Ratings, today: “This monitoring note does not constitute a credit rating action, nor does it indicate the likelihood that Scope will conduct a credit rating action in the…
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Formerly BB, Now Under Supervisor’s Scrutiny
“Because the bonds purchased by the Adler Group no longer meet the requirements of the ECB, the central bank has now thrown them out of its portfolio in a move that caused a stir”, that is what the Börsen-Zeitung writes today. Only rating reports from S&P Global Ratings are available on the Adler website, the…
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To Say Goodbye to Russia, There Is Still an AAA
A Russian rating agency is avoiding the issue of banks withdrawing from Russia. The Russian Analytical Credit Rating Agency ACRA affirms the AAA(RU) credit rating to SEB BANK JSC with a stable outlook: “The credit rating of SEB Bank JSC is based on the very high likelihood of extraordinary support from the parent company. SEB…
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New Political and Economic Burdens Ignored
Scope affirms Ilija Batljan Invest AB’s issuer rating at BBB-/Stable. This news must come as a surprise given the current economic and political challenges that have meanwhile added to the factors that already made an “investment grade” rating seem questionable last year.
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Seal of Creditworthiness in a Changed Market Environment
Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope) has assigned a first-time issuer rating of BB/Stable to Luxembourg registered real estate developer MG RE Invest S.A. Scope has also assigned a first-time rating of BB to the company’s senior unsecured debt. It is a bold credit rating at a time when a whole range of general conditions for the…
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Russia’s Credit Rating Hinges on Tougher Sanctions
Possible sanctions attract the attention of credit analysts. Russia’s credit outlook could be adversely affected by specific Western sanctions, in the event of a failure to defuse the crisis over Ukraine, says Levon Kameryan, Senior Analyst, Sovereign and Public Sector Ratings, and looks at the cumulative impact of existing and potentially stronger future sanctions, a…
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US Agencies’ Market Shares Remain a European Debacle
The excessive regulation of rating agencies in the European Union (EU) has failed to achieve its goal. The dominance of US rating agencies remains. Their ratings are practically the only decisive factor for the allocation of the economic resource “capital” in Europe. The three leading US agencies S&P Global Ratings Europe, Moody’s Investors Service and…
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ECB Sidelines Private Investors
In a research piece titled “Covered bonds at a turning point?” published by Scope Ratings the dominate role of the European Central Bank (ECB) for credit rating agencies becomes once more very obvious. “The covered bond market is in upbeat mode. But while issuance has picked up significantly, public supply will remain well below the…
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Little Risk of Systemic Contagion from the Evergrande Crisis
“China’s ghost cities” have become a familiar trope in Western media. Beyond Kangbashi, with its other-worldly stadiums and museums, there is Chengchong in southern Yunnan province; Binhai, outside the central city of Tianjin; and Tianducheng, in the Hangzhou suburbs, with its very own replica of the Eiffel Tower. China’s ghost cities are in the news again because of the financial travails…
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How Can the ECB Still Make Impartial and Objective Decisions?
Scope’s new Board of Trustee’s member could not only prove to be an own goal, but also bring disadvantages for competing agencies.
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Rating Agency Violates Disclosure of Transparency Reports and More
CRA Transparency Reports 2021 “Transparency Reports” of credit rating agencies (CRAs) are published in accordance with Article 12 and Annex I, Section E.III of the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies: (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies, as amended by Regulation (EU)…
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Which Rating Agencies the World is Looking for in Germany
Some surprising observations Many Internet users do not bother to memorize the exact domain of a website, but simply enter a clear keyword into the Google search engine in order to be able to simply click on the desired result and visit the desired website. The displayed search results are therefore of great importance for…
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Credit Rating Agency Authorisation 2021
Links to websites of the Credit Rating Agencies authorized in the European Union. The credit rating agencies listed below have been registered or certified by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in accordance with the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation. Domains of websites are added. According to ESMA, the list was last updated on May…
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Ernst & Young No Longer Has any Equity on its Balance Sheet
Auditors have been making double-digit million losses for years. At Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (EY) in Germany, “equity” is on the assets side, namely as a “deficit not covered by equity” in the amount of € 62,715,000. The provisions, liabilities, deferred income as well as deferred taxes and fiduciary obligations exceed the company’s assets…
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Ilija Batljan’s Rating Shopping Spree
Are upgrades driven by improvements in creditworthiness or by hopping from agency to agency? The activities of self-made millionaire Ilija Batljan are too conspicuous to be ignored in the financial markets. Ilija Batljan came to Sweden from Montenegro. He moved to Sweden in 1993 during the breakup of his native Yugoslavia and in 1996 earned…
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Political Network Makes It Possible
Berlin network of politicians, raters and auditors. “Wirecard illusion factory only conceivable through political network”, is a quote from the Cicero, the German magazine for political culture. The members of the committee of inquiry have an unequivocal answer to this. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) sees Finance Minister Olaf Scholz at the center of the…
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Management Board of the Auditing Association of German Banks Changing
Former colleague of the later Greensill Bank Supervisory board member has left The Federal Association of German Banks (BdB) is drawing initial conclusions from the Greensill Bank‘s 3 billion euro compensation case. As the organization confirmed on request of the Börsen-Zeitung, it will analyze the structure of its auditing association and its staff with the…
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Does the Embellished Rating Cost Jobs on Bank Boards?
The rating of a local rating agency does not exempt you from the responsibility to form your own judgment
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First, ODDO BHF Takes the Chair, then the Scope Award
Conflicts of interest have arisen again at a local rating agency in Berlin.
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Scope’s Greensill Bank Rating Tragedy
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) filed criminal charges Against The Bank’s Board Members. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Germany received monthly reports from Greensill Bank AG (Greensill Bank) about the bank’s balance sheet data from January 2019 on. This is evident from the answer given by Parliamentary State Secretary Sarah Ryglewski on…
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Clever Commission from the City of Münster in Westphalia
An automated safety net for municipal investments has not existed since 2017. If municipalities do not want to set up extensive bond research departments themselves, in which financial analysts examine thousands of qualitative data and annual financial statements from issuers of financial products, the municipalities depend on the independent judgments of reliable credit rating agencies…
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RAG-Stiftung Must Have Known
Scope Group is not at all related to the transformation of the regions along the Ruhr and Saar Rivers and in Ibbenbüren.
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Once Advantages for Scope Shareholders, Now Disadvantages for German Banks
In Germany, the Greensill Bank is likely to be one of the most expensive cases ever.
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Scope Group Not Within the Scope of ESMA
The scandal surrounding Greensill Bank and the credit rating of Scope Ratings GmbH for this bank raises the question of how the situation at the Scope Group got out of control.
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S&P And Moody’s Are Losing Market Share in the EU
For the first time, the European Securities and Markets Authority ESMA has reported a decline in market shares in Europe for both of the major US rating agencies. The authority thus discloses a remarkable development. Never before have the two market leaders, who have been issuing their credit ratings worldwide according to recognized standards and…
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More than 300 Raters Worldwide
There is a simple definition of the word “rater”: “one that rates”. A rater is specifically a person who estimates or determines a rating. Not every rater is a rating agency. In a number of countries, only legal persons can be recognized as rating agencies. In most countries, individuals are free to express their opinion…
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Finma Authorized Credit Rating Agencies
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA supervises financial institutions making use of the services of Credit Rating Agencies, e.g. for the capital-adequacy calculations carried out by banks. Supervised institutions can use ratings to meet a number of regulatory requirements. In certain specific cases, only ratings from agencies recognised by FINMA may be used. The…
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ESMA Authorized Credit Rating Agencies
In the period leading up to the financial crisis in 2008, 2010 and so on, the European Commission considered to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework for Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) in the European Union (EU), to restore market confidence and increase investor protection: (1) The first set of rules, which entered into force at the…
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