Morningstar Still Mulling Credit-rating Biz
Morningstar continues to evaluate creating a credit-rating business, although the financial services company came no clearer to providing specifics than it has in previous statements. This time, the company talked about the possibility in a monthly series of questions that it files with its SEC documents. The company says it is also looking for ways to strengthen its fixed-income analytical abilities.
"We’ve said in the past we would consider providing credit ratings, and it’s something we’re continuing to evaluate," the company said in a prepared statement filed with the SEC earlier this month. In a similar document in February, Morningstar said it was evaluating such a move, but had no plans to do so. it's not clear if the fact that it did not repeat the statement about having no plans had any meaning. In prior statements on the subject, Mornignstar has made strong criticism of the current big players and earlier this year said that the reputation of S&P, Moody's and Fitch "has been permanently impaired. Their futures look deservedly grim, yet it's a service that someone needs to provide. What better company to step in than Morningstar?"
