Business Day welcomes the TT Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI) as its newest columnist.
The coalition's weekly columns will look at its operations, membership and overall contributions of the services sector to the socio-economic landscape of TT.
DERECK RAJACK
With its roots stretching back to 2004, Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Ltd (CariCRIS) has established itself as the region's leading credit rating agency.
Built on a foundation of strong institutional backing, CariCRIS brings together the region's most important financial stakeholders, with shareholdings by regional central banks, multilateral development banks and major Caribbean financial institutions.
The agency's technical capabilities are further enhanced through its partnership with CRISIL – a CariCRIS shareholder and Standard & Poor's associate company – bringing global best practices to the Caribbean context.
Established to serve the Caribbean's unique financial ecosystem, CariCRIS provides regional and national scale ratings that offer a comprehensive assessment of creditworthiness relative to other Caribbean entities. These ratings serve as essential tools for investors, creditors and other stakeholders in evaluating investment and lending decisions within the regional context.
Credit ratings play a pivotal role in emerging and developing markets, serving as independent references of creditworthiness and catalysts for market development.
In the context of the Caribbean, the impact is particularly significant. Through standardised and objective assessments, credit ratings foster transparency in financial markets and help reduce the information gap between issuers and investors. This work is instrumental in supporting the development of local currency bond markets and enabling more accurate pricing of debt instruments.
Perhaps most importantly, regional credit assessment facilitates cross-border investments within the Caribbean, creating a more integrated financial market.
For regional enterprises, the process of obtaining a credit rating from CariCRIS is straightforward. It involves a company submitting its financial and operational data to CariCRIS and facilitating meetings with the company's executive team. The agency's experienced analysts then thoroughly evaluate factors such as the company's financial health, market position, strategy and management quality. Once the assessment is complete, the company receives its credit rating, which is assigned by an independent committee.
[caption id="attachment_1131671" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dereck Rajack, CEO of CariCRIS -[/caption]
Being rated can result in a number of advantages. First and foremost, a credit rating can enhance access to funding.
Rated companies can tap into diverse funding sources, including bonds, commercial paper and bank financing.
Moreover, depending on the rating, these companies can often negotiate more favourable interest rates and terms, directly affecting their bottom line.
The benefits of a credit rating ex
