IOSCO requested comments on a consultation report that examines how market participants use nontraditional products services offered by credit rating agencies ("CRAs").

The IOSCO Report, titled "Other CRA Products" was drafted to clarify information collected in surveys published by IOSCO in 2015, and to report current understanding of products and services provided by credit rating agencies that are different from commonly identified issuer paid or subscriber paid credit ratings. "These other CRA products may be used by market participants in making investment and other credit related decisions . . . and may be used by issuers and obligors to make decisions about whether to obtain a credit rating from a particular credit rating agency." 

The nontraditional products include private ratings, confidential ratings, expected ratings, indicative ratings, prospective ratings, provisional ratings, preliminary ratings, credit default swap spreads, bond indices, and portfolio assessment tools. The report includes the two questionnaires that were intended to determine (i) the difference between traditional credit ratings and other credit-rating products ("OCPs"), and (ii) how issuers, investors and others utilize and understand OCPs.

Comments on the report must be submitted by December 5, 2016.

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