Thomas Murray has announced the launch of its Capital Market Infrastructure Risk Ratings which track post-execution risk exposures across 89 markets worldwide.
The overall risk rating and associated individual risk exposure assessment ratings allow users to compare capital market infrastructure risk exposures across countries. The ratings are based on an absolute and comparable ratings scale (using the standard AAA through C ratings configuration).
The ratings measure capital market infrastructure risk exposures irrespective of which infrastructure organization is present in a country or the particular methods adopted to settle and safe-keep securities.
“The Capital Market Infrastructure Risk Ratings are a response to investors’ need for ratings on local capital market post-execution risk exposures,” said Simon Thomas, CEO and Chief Ratings Officer of Thomas Murray said. “There is growing institutional and trustee awareness that custodians do not mitigate local capital market infrastructure risks for investors.
“Funds must determine these risk exposures themselves. The Risk Ratings show significant variations, reflecting the varying degrees of success in the way different capital market infrastructures have evolved,” Thomas pointed out.
Derek Duggan, Managing Director, Information Services added, “Regulators have placed responsibility for assessing market infrastructure risk exposure firmly with investors. Local capital market infrastructure risk exposures are reflective of how well local market infrastructure entities interlink, including CSDs. Thomas Murray is the only provider of Risk Ratings of this post-trade execution activity.”
The Thomas Murray Capital Market Infrastructure Risk Ratings assess local market settlement processes through a structured analysis of six risk types i.e., Asset Commitment, Liquidity, Counterparty, Asset Servicing, Financial and Operational risks.
The latest Thomas Murray Market Infrastructure Risk Ratings show Australia, Canada, France, Singapore and Sweden, as having the highest-rated capital market infrastructures.