Jump to content

Talk:Fitch Ratings

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Archives (Index)

This page is archived by ClueBot III.

dual headquarters

[edit]

In the reference provided I don't see any indication that Fitch Ratings has dual headquarters. I question that anyway, because that would mean Fitch Ratings is a registered legal entity in both countries, and needs to satisfy legal requirements in both jurisdictions, which might be conflicting. And if Fitch Ratings does indeed have dual headquarters, it's not an "American" credit agency, it would be an American-British rating agency. JPprivate (talk) 05:23, 3 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Request to update founding date and history section

[edit]

My name is Miguel and I'm an employee at Fitch Group.

Right now both the infobox and history section claim that Fitch Ratings was founded in 1914. That's not correct. Fitch Ratings was actually founded in 1913 as multiple sources state. (See examples here and here.)

I was initially just going to request the founding date be updated, but as I dug into the history of Fitch more I realized there are actually numerous notable developments missing from the history section. There are also a lot of operational details in the first paragraph that feel more contemporary than historical. So I put together a draft that updates the history section and splits off the operational details into a new operations section, as that seems to be the common format for corporate Wikipedia articles. (I hope this "collapsable" draft works because I see this style of request on other talk pages.)

Proposed history and operations sections

History

[edit]

John Knowles Fitch founded the Fitch Publishing Company in 1913.[1][2] The company sold compilations of financial statistics and analyses, including the Fitch Bond Book and Fitch Stock and Bond Manual.[2][3] In 1924, Fitch introduced an AAA-through-D ratings system.[2][4] This system eventually became the financial industry's benchmark for fixed-income investment decisions.[4]

The Richard Cacchione family acquired the firm in the early 1960s.[5]

In 1975, Fitch, Standard & Poor's, and Moody's were recognized as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NSRSO) by the Securities and Exchanges Commission.[6] This designation meant that financial firms must rely on ratings provided by the three organizations for certain regulatory purposes.[6]

In 1989 an investor group led by former Ambac CEO H. Russell Fraser and Van Kampen Merritt founder Robert Van Kampen acquired Fitch through a private placement.[7] Richard D. Cacchione, who had headed the firm for several years, stayed on as part of the management team.[7]

In 1997, Fimalac acquired Fitch for $175 million and merged the firm with the European-based IBCA Limited, a Fimalac subsidiary.[8] Fitch's president, Stephen W. Joynt, continued as president and chief operating officer for the merged firm.[8]

In March 2000, Fitch acquired Duff & Phelps, a Chicago-based credit rating company.[9] In October of the same year, Fitch acquired the bank-ranking service provider BankWatch from the Thomson Corporation.[10] The moves expanded Fitch's operations and service offerings.[9][10]

In 2006, Hearst bought a 20 percent stake in Fitch Group from Fimalac.[11] It subsequently increased its holdings to 40 percent in 2009 and to 50 percent three years later.[12][13]

In September 2011, Fitch agreed to sell its risk analytics firm, Algorithmics, to IBM for $387 million.[14] The deal was completed the next month.[15]

In December 2014, Hearst further boosted its Fitch holdings to 80 percent by purchasing an additional 30 percent stake from the French owner, Fimalac, for nearly $2 billion.[16] In April 2018, Hearst purchased the final 20 percent stake and became the sole owner of Fitch.[17]

Operations

[edit]

Fitch Ratings is a subsidiary of Fitch Group, a holding company wholly owned by Hearst Communications.[17][18] Fitch Group also operates Fitch Solutions, a distribution channel for Fitch Ratings products and a provider of credit market data and financial analytics.[19][20]

Fitch Group is dual headquartered in New York and London and operates in 30 countries worldwide.[21] The firm maintains offices across the Asian Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.[22] Fitch Group employs approximately 5,000 people, including over 1,600 analysts.[23] Paul Taylor is president and chief executive officer of Fitch Group.[24]

Fitch Ratings is registered as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO).[6] The firm has more than 2,400 employees[25] and is the third largest NRSRO rating agency, covering a more limited share of the market than S&P and Moody's, though it has grown with acquisitions and frequently positions itself as a "tie-breaker" when the other two agencies have ratings similar, but not equal, in scale.[26] Ian Linnell is president of Fitch Ratings.[27]

References

  1. ^ Krämer, Walter; Neumärker, Simon (2024). "On Rating the Raters: Statistics in the Rating Industry". In Weihs, Claus; Krämer, Walter; Buschfeld, Sarah (eds.). Statistics Today. Society, Environment and Statistics. Springer. pp. 125–132. The third major competitor is the New York and London based Fitch Ratings agency founded on Christmas Eve 1913 by John Knowles Fitch.
  2. ^ a b c Friedberg, Barbara A. (2024). "Credit or Bond Rating Agency". In Dieterle, David A. (ed.). Economics. Bloomsbury Publishing. In 1913, John Knowles Fitch founded the Fitch Publishing Company, which published The Fitch Stock and Bond Manual and The Fitch Bond book, compilations of financial statistics used by the investment industry. In 1924, Fitch introduced the AAA through D rating system. These grades laid the groundwork for modern investment product ratings.
  3. ^ Widmer, Lori (2011). "The future of ratings" (PDF). Risk Management. 58 (6). Sabinet: 20–25. A few years later, John Knowles Fitch started his publishing company, which in 1913 issued 'The Fitch Bond Book' and 'The Fitch Stock and Bond Manual,' two publications loaded with financial statistics to help investors navigate the investment industry. By 1924, Fitch had added a AAA-through-D ratings system.
  4. ^ a b Wolfson, Josh; Crawford, Crawford (2010). "Lessons From The Current Financial Crisis: Should Credit Rating Agencies Be Re-Structured". Journal of Business & Economics Research. 8 (7): 85–92. In 1913, John Knowles Fitch established the Fitch Publishing Company that sold statistical and financial analysis to the public in the "Fitch Bond Book" and "Fitch Stock and Bond Manual. In 1924, Fitch introduced the now familiar AAA through D ratings that ultimately became the benchmark by which the financial community based fixed income investment decisions.
  5. ^ "Court Refuses Restraining Order". The Bond Buyer. April 21, 1989 – via Nexis. The investor group purchased the rating agency, founded by John K. Fitch in 1913 as Fitch Publishing Co., from the Richard Cacchione family, which had acquired the firm in the early 1960s. The firm employs about 50 professionals and staff members and is based in New York, with an office in Denver.
  6. ^ a b c White, Lawrence J. (2010). "Markets: The Credit Rating Agencies". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 24 (2): 214.
  7. ^ a b "Investor Group Acquires Fitch Bond Rating Agency". The New York Times. April 21, 1989. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Lavin, Douglas (October 17, 1997). "Fimalac Pays $175 Million For Credit-Rating Agency". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Gasparino, Charles (March 8, 2000). "Fitch Acquires Duff & Phelps In Latest Credit-Rating Union". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Townsend, Piers; Adams, Jeremy (October 3, 2000). "Fitch to offer bank rating under BankWatch deal". Financial News. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  11. ^ Pearson, David (March 16, 2006). "Hearst to Acquire 20% Fitch Stake". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  12. ^ Ovide, Shira (July 24, 2009). "Hearst Raises Stake in Fitch". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  13. ^ Barr, Alistair (February 9, 2012). "Hearst buys another 10 percent of Fitch for $177 million". Reuters. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  14. ^ "IBM Buying Algorithmics for $387M". Traders Magazine. September 1, 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  15. ^ "IBM completes US$380.2m Algorithmics acquisition". Silicon Republic 2011. October 23, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  16. ^ Alden, William (December 12, 2014). "Hearst to Buy Control of Fitch, the Credit Ratings Firm". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Hufford, Austen (April 12, 2018). "Hearst Takes Full Ownership of Fitch Group". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  18. ^ "2023 Form NRSRO" (PDF). Fitch Ratings. 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Naciri, Ahmed (2015). Credit Rating Governance. Taylor & Francis. p. 152. ISBN 9781317634362.
  20. ^ García Alcubilla, Raquel; Ruiz del Pozo, Javier (2012). Credit Rating Agencies on the Watch List. Oxford University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0191640999. In addition to Fitch Ratings, the Fitch Group also includes Fitch Solutions, a distribution channel for Fitch Ratings products and a provider of data, analytics, and related services.
  21. ^ "Section 172 Statement" (PDF). Fitch Group. March 31, 2023.
  22. ^ "Regulatory Affairs". Fitch Group. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  23. ^ "100+ years of history". Fitch Group. Retrieved October 15, 2024. As a result of Fitch's growth and acquisitions, we now have over 5,000 employees, including over 1,600 analysts[.]
  24. ^ Partington, Richard (April 12, 2012). "Meet the thick-skinned chief of Fitch Ratings". Financial News. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  25. ^ "What We Do". Fitch Ratings. Retrieved October 16, 2024. We have over 2,400 employees[.]
  26. ^ "FACTBOX: List of 10 rating agencies recognized by U.S. SEC". Reuters. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Meet The Fitch Group leadership team". Fitch Group. Retrieved October 16, 2024.

If you're reviewing the draft you'll see that I added historical details about the founding of Fitch (per my explanation above), the 1989 acquisition, and the more recent Hearst acquisition. For the operations section, I stuck to core details about Fitch's corporate structure, geographic reach, and leadership. I largely cited national media coverage, so The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Financial News, along with academic journals and textbooks. I also cited regulatory filings for a few operational details like headquarters locations.

If the operations section is implemented, I think we could cut the existing Fitch Solutions section, especially as that section doesn't have any citations.

As noted, I am an employee of Fitch Ratings. I understand that editors will need to review my proposed draft carefully to ensure that the content aligns with Wikipedia guidelines. Any and all feedback would be welcomed, thank you. MiguelAtFitch (talk) 14:21, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Fitch_Ratings&oldid=1258583244"