Credit Ratings Agencies and Rule of Law Data

The Bingham Centre is exploring how Rule of Law information systems capturing data on Rule of Law principles are used by Credit Ratings Agencies (CRAs). 

CRAs play a fundamental role as information brokers, with ratings conveying an assessment of a sovereign's or a corporate's creditworthiness. The Rule of Law is an important factor determining the willingness and likelihood that financial obligations will be upheld. As such, compliance with Rule of Law principles should flow through to the ratings process, but it is not clear that this always takes place. 

This project will review the current level of Rule of Law risk assessment by CRAs, and think constructively about the prospects for the credit ratings process to improve Rule of Law knowledge brokerage.