ASSOCIATES

Alliance with Moody's Investors Service

The International rating agency MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE has taken up stake in the equity capital of ICRA and is currently ICRA's largest shareholder. The participation of Moody's is supported by a Technical Services Agreement which entails Moody's providing certain high-value technical services to ICRA. Specifically, the agreement is aimed at benefiting ICRA's in-house research capabilities, and providing it with access to Moody's global research base. The agreement also envisages Moody's conducting regular training and business seminars for ICRA analysts on various subjects to help them better understand and manage concepts and issues relating to the development of the capital markets in India. Besides this formal training programme, the agreement provides for Moody's advising ICRA on rating-products strategy, and the ratings business in general.

ICRA takes Credit Rating to Kuwait

ICRA has established its footprint in Kuwait, Rating that country's leading cellular telecom services entity, Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), in association with Credit Rating & Collection (CRC). CRC is a provider of credit related and debt collection services in Kuwait and plays a significant role in the country's banking and commercial systems. ICRA's expertise forms the key input for the initiatives of CRC towards institutionalising the system of Credit Rating in Kuwait. In its first international Rating jointly with CRC, ICRA has assigned an issuer Rating of AA (pronounced double A) to MTC, indicating high safety.

For ICRA, the MTC assignment marks yet another step in its endeavor to provide training and technical assistance to Rating Agencies outside India. Already, ICRA is in an advanced stage of discussion with certain other Asian countries to help them establish local Rating and Information Services Agencies. As for Kuwait, the MTC rating, carrying the label of 'CRC-ICRA issuer rating", is the first to have involved a domestic Rating Agency (CRC).

ICRA First Indian Rating Agency to Enter Europe, Signs MoU with Bulgarian Credit Rating Agency

ICRA Limited has been the first Indian credit rating agency to enter the European market following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICRA and Bulgarian Credit Rating Agency (BCRA). The MoU envisages, among other things, ICRA providing technical assistance to BCRA in designing rating methodologies, besides imparting training to BCRA analysts and helping them carry out rating assignments.