Fitch Group

Aktivs

Founded in 1913, Fitch for 2018 includes a rating agency (the company's largest business), as well as research and training units.

Fitch Ratings, along with S&P and Moody's ("Mudis"), is in the "big three" international rating agencies for 2020.

Country ratings

The ratings of the leading rating agencies never had economic content in the context of real debt stability and solvency, but determined the political component of the consolidation of the main pool of investors among trusted countries close to the United States.

Credit ratings are politics (overstating "own" and underreporting "alien"), plus manipulation of global cash flows, infringing on "renegades."

Global institutional groups (leading investment banks, investment funds, pension and insurance funds) within the framework of investment declarations cannot distribute cash flows into instruments that are not covered by ratings or have an insufficient rating.

Accordingly, rating agencies are, in fact, arbitrators who allow lowering or raising the threshold for entry of international investors into a certain financial instrument.

The main feature of credit ratings is that the ratings themselves have no predictive value, at least for "their own," i.e. a decrease in ratings occurs upon the implementation of events or when the degradation of the issuer's quality is visible to the naked eye. It was with the countries of Southern Europe in 2010-2022, it was with mortgage bonds in 2007, in fact, there are dozens of examples.

2023: US downgrade to "AA + "

Fitch rating agency in August 2023 lowered the long-term US rating by one notch from AAA to AA + (a total of 16 notches). The last time the US downgrade was in August 2011 by S&P (then it was a trigger, but not a reason for the strongest sell-off in the asset market from August to October 2011).

In an analytical letter explaining the motives for the downgrade, nothing new was said - everything has long been known.

Another thing is interesting here - why did they suddenly "truth-mouths" get hurt?

Key talking points from Fitch's statement:

• The U.S. financial situation is expected to deteriorate over the next three years.

• Clowning with debt limits and a Hollywood yet well-worn, boring last-minute manner of raising the limit.

• Over the past 20 years, there has been a steady deterioration in fiscal and debt management standards.

• Complex and volatile budgeting process, which does not allow to form a medium-term forecast of the expenditure structure.

• The growing deficit of the state budget without plans for budgetary consolidation, at least until the November 2024 elections, a significant spread of interest expenses.

• Growth of public debt to 113% to ([GDP]] compared to 100% in 2019.

• No prospects to improve the budget situation due to rising social spending amid an ageing population (pensions and medicine) and long-term problems with interest expense.

• The economy is slipping into recession - tightening credit conditions, lower investment, slowing consumer spending.

• Unresolved inflation issues and the Fed's too-tight MCP, which could hold rates until March 2024.

2020:10 AAA-rated countries

In June 2020, Fitch Ratings (Fitch) downgraded Canada, now only 10 countries are rated by the agency at the highest level "AAA," this is the lowest number since 1998

Fitch's rating now looks like this:, USA,, Germany Switzerland Luxembourg, the Netherlands,,, and, Denmark Sweden Norway as well as Singapore and. Australia

History

2023: MTS Bank sues millions from Fitch for "unjust enrichment"

MTS Bank sued 34,445 pounds sterling (4.3 million rubles) from the Fitch rating agency for "unjust enrichment." This was reported on August 9, 2023 by Vedomosti with reference to the corresponding decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court .

MTS Bank filed a lawsuit in April 2023, but the amount of claims and their details were not reported. A representative of the credit institution told the publication that the claims are related to Fitch's violation of obligations to assign a rating for 2022.

MTS Bank sued £34,445 from rating agency Fitch

The agency withdrew the bank's international rating back in March 2022 and suspended work in Russia. Therefore, MTS-Bank demanded to return the advance paid for the services not provided to assign the rating. In pre-trial order, the dispute could not be settled, so the financial organization filed a lawsuit.

The actual execution of the court's decision (even if it is recognized) may be complicated by the imposed sanctions, due to which banks refuse to make payments with the participation of Russian companies, said Stanislav Sobolev, lawyer of a colleague of Regionservice lawyers, earlier. At the end of February 2023, MTS Bank fell under the blocking sanctions of the United States and Great Britain.

Earlier, a similar lawsuit against Fitch managed to win Loko Bank, which demanded to reimburse part of the advance payment in the amount of 25,541 pounds sterling (about 3.1 million rubles). The appeal also sided with the Russian bank. Fitch considered Russian jurisdiction non-judicial and requested that it be left without consideration - the arbitration clause of the agreement with the bank provided that all proceedings should take place in the London International Arbitration Court (LCIA). But a Moscow court denied the request, citing sanctions imposed on Russia and its financial system.

Did not accept the court and Fitch's argument that the terms of the agreement with the bank provided for the company "at any time for any reason to revoke any rating, without returning the remuneration paid for its issuance."^[1]

2020: Central Bank of China allowed Fitch to work in the Chinese credit rating market

In May 2020, the People's Bank of China (Central Bank, Central Bank) issued permission to Fitch Bohua (Fitch Bohua), fully managed by the American corporation Fitch Ratings (Fitch Ratings), to conduct business in the Chinese credit rating market. This is stated in a message published on the website of the Central Bank of China.

The company is allowed to evaluate certain bonds in the interbank market of China's debt securities.

The Chinese Central Bank also said that Fitch Ratings' admission to the Chinese market is part of an agreement on the first phase of a trade deal between China and the United States.

Fitch Ratings became the second overseas corporation to enter the credit rating market in China. In 2019, S&P Global received market admission.

2018: Hearst takes its stake in the company to 100%

On April 12, 2018, media conglomerate Hearst announced the purchase of a 20% stake in Fitch Group, which provides various financial services, from French Fimalac SA for $2.8 billion.

According to a press release from the company, it now owns 100% of Fitch Group, which has become the largest business within Hearst.

Hearst acquired a stake in Fitch in 2006 and in 2015 brought the stake to 80%.

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