Economics
Vladimir Putin Starts His Own Ratings Firm
- Moody's, Fitch forced to stop national ratings under new rules
- Kremlin had condemned barrage of downgrades as political
Vladimir Putin.
Photographer: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Vladimir Putin’s homegrown credit-ratings firm is up and running and foreign competitors are already feeling the heat.
In the past three weeks, Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and Fitch Ratings Ltd. have said they plan to stop issuing local ratings rather than agree to having their Moscow branches regulated by the Russian government at the cost of breaking international sanctions. As the New York-based firms scale back, the venture known as ACRA is poised to fill the void when it starts publishing opinions in the second half.