Scope Ratings has today published its updated General Corporate Rating Methodology, which clarifies and refines its analytical approach while keeping the core principles unchanged.

Scope invited market participants to comment on the methodology until 1 July 2022. Scope has reviewed market participants’ comments and reflected additional editorial changes. The final version of this rating methodology has been published today together with a feedback report. The methodology is now final.

Rating impact and reviews

The updated methodology will not have implications on existing issuer or debt ratings for non-financial corporates covered by Scope.

Methodology highlights

• Clarification about the geographical scope of application
• Provision of additional transparency regarding the weighing of business and financial risk for non-investment grade rated issuers
• Provision of higher granularity regarding the computation and typical adjustments of Scope-adjusted debt
• Clarification of our rating approach for the debt of unrated issuers which is explicitly guaranteed by other rated issuers for long-term and short-term debt ratings
• Additional elaboration on the integration of rating-relevant ESG factors which we consider in our analysis and which, if material, could impact our assessment of an issuer’s credit quality
• Provision of examples of our recovery analysis for the rating of long-term debt instruments/categories
• Additional editorial changes / clarification of wording

Feedback report after call for comments

Scope also publishes the analytical comments received from market participants during the call-for-comments period that ended on 1 July 2022, as part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to transparency and open dialogue with market participants.

Scope has reviewed market participants’ comments and has published the final version of this rating methodology together with a feedback report.

The methodology and the feedback report are available for download at www.scoperatings.com.