Credit Rating Agencies -- globally

At 71 credit rating agencies worldwide, this list is up by six since our last full review of (Mar-2008), that list was only one more than our previous tally, see the historical list. Listing all the world's credit rating agencies is a hopeless task, but several kind people have written to me so this compilation represents significant turnover, see the nine names dropped from prior list.

Interestingly, mechanical credit scoring continues to gain acceptance and application. This trend is fueled by: a) increased uniformity and electronic reporting of financial information, 2) decreased "name recognition" of borrowers by investor/lenders, as 3) credit becomes more global, 4) an increased ability to make use of a quantitative value within the growing tide of Credit Value-at-Risk models/systems, and 5) regulator incentives for some to adopt an Internal Models Approach. But I'm hearing that in many cases, the mechanical credit scoring is bolstering, rather than displacing, human judgments.

1. A.M. Best Company, Inc.
   US -- NRSRO

2. Agusto & Co. Ltd.
   Nigeria

3. Ahbor Rating
   Uzbekistan

4. Apoyo & Asociados Internacionales S.A.C.
   Peru -- Fitch Associate

5. Bank Watch Ratings S.A.
   Ecuador -- Fitch Affiliate

6. BRC Investor Services S.A.
   Columbia

7. Calificadora de Riesgo, PCA
   Uruguay

8. Capital Intelligence, Ltd.
   Cyprus

9. Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services Ltd. (CariCRIS)
   Caribbean

10. Central European Rating Agency (CERA)
    a/k/a: Fitch Polska, S.A.
    Poland

11. Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd.
    China -- Moody's Affiliate

12. China Lianhe Credit Rating, Co. Ltd.
    China

13. Clasificadora de Riesgo Humphreys, Ltda.
    Chile -- Moody's Affiliate

14. Class y Asociados S.A. Clasificadora de Riesgo
    Peru

15. CMC International, Ltd.
    Nigeria

16. Companhia Portuguesa de Rating, SA (CPR)
    Portugal

17. Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE)
    India

18. Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh, Ltd. (CRAB)
    Bangladesh

19. Credit Rating Information and Services, Ltd. (CRISL)
    Bangladesh

20. CRISIL, Ltd.
    f/k/a: Credit Rating Information Services of India
    India -- S&P Affiliate

21. Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., Ltd.
    China

22. Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS)
    Canada -- NRSRO

23. Duff & Phelps de Colombia, S.A., S.C.V
    Columbia -- Fitch Affiliate

24. Ecuability, SA
    Ecuador

25. Egan-Jones Rating Company
    US -- NRSRO

26. Equilibrium Clasificadora de Riesgo
    Peru -- Moody's Affiliate

27. European Rating Agency (ERA)
    UK

28. Feller Rate Clasificadora de Riesgo
    Chile -- S&P Affiliate

29. Fitch Ratings, Ltd.
    US/UK -- NRSRO

30. Global Credit Rating Co.
    S.Africa

31. HR Ratings de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
    Added: Jan-09
    Mexico

32. Interfax Rating Agency (IRA)
    Russia

33. Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA)
    India

34. Islamic International Rating Agency, B.S.C. (IIRA)
    Bahrain

35. Istanbul International Rating Services, Inc.
    a/k/a: TurkRating
    Added: Oct-09
    Turkey

36. Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR)
    Japan -- NRSRO

37. JCR Avrasya Derecelendime A.S.
    a/k/a: JCR Eurasia Rating
    Added: Oct-09
    Turkey -- JCR Affiliate

38. JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd.
    Pakistan -- JCR Affiliate

39. Kobirate Uluslararası Kredi Derecelendirme ve Kurumsal Yönetim Hizmetleri A.Ş.
    a/k/a/ Kobirate
    Added Oct-09
    Turkey

40. Korea Investors Service, Inc. (KIS)
    Korea -- Moody's Affiliate

41. Korea Ratings Corporation
    f/k/a: Korea Management Consulting and Credit Rating Corp. (KMCC)
    Korea -- Fitch Affiliate

42. LACE Financial Corp,
    Added: Jan-09
    US -- NRSRO

43. Lanka Rating Agency, Ltd. (LRA)
    Sri Lanka -- Subsidiary of RAM

44. Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC)
    Malaysia -- Fitch Affiliate

45. Mikuni & Co., Ltd.
    Japan

46. Moody's Investors Service
    US -- NRSRO

47. National Information & Credit Evaluation, Inc. (NICE)
    Korea

48. ONICRA Credit Rating Agency of India, Ltd.
    India

49. P.T. Kasnic Credit Rating Indonesia -- Indonesia
    Indonesia -- Moody's Affiliate

50. P.T. PEFINDO Credit Rating Indonesia
    a/k/a: PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia
    Indonesia

51. Pacific Credit Rating (PCR)
    a/k/a: Clasificadora de Riesgo Pacific Credit Rating S.A.C.
    Peru

52. Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (PACRA)
    Pakistan -- Fitch former affiliate

53. Philippine Rating Services, Corp. (PhilRatings)
    Philippines

54. RAM Rating Services Berhad (RAM)
    f/k/a: Rating Agency Malaysia Berhad
    Malaysia -- S&P Affiliate

55. Rapid Ratings International, Inc.
    Australia/NZ

56. Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I)
    Japan -- NRSRO

57. Realpoint, LLC
    Added: Jan-09
    US -- NRSRO

58. Rus Ratings
    Russia

59. Saha Kurumsal Yönetim ve Kredi Derecelendirme Hizmetleri A.Ş
    Added: Oct-09
    Turkey

60. Seoul Credit Rating & Information, Inc.
    Korea -- JCR Affiliate

61. Shanghai Credit Information Services Co., Ltd.
    China

62. Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd.
    a/k/a: Xinhua Far East Credit Ratings
    China

63. Slovak Rating Agency, a.s. (SRA)
    a/k/a: Slovenská ratingová agentúra, a.s.
    Balkans -- ERA Affiliate

64. SME Rating Agency of India Limited (SMERA)
    Added: Apr-08
    India

65. Sociedad Calificadora de Riesgo Centroamericana, S.A. (SCRiesgo)
    Costa Rica

66. Standard and Poors (S&P)
    US -- NRSRO

67. Taiwan Ratings, Corp. (TCR)
    Taiwan -- S&P Affiliate

68. Thai Rating and Information Services Co., Ltd. (TRIS)
    Thailand

69. TheStreet.com Ratings, Inc.
    f/k/a: Weiss Ratings, Inc.
    US

70. TCR Kurumsal Yonetim ve Kredi Derecelendirme Hizmetleri A.S.
    a/k/a: Türk KrediRating (TCRating)
    Turkey

71. Veribanc, Inc.
    US