Policy on Unsolicited Ratings

Policy Statement February 2024

Capital Intelligence may initiate credit ratings on issuers (the terms ‘Issuer’ and ‘rated entity’ are used interchangeably in this policy) without the request of the issuer provided there is adequate public information available to form a credible opinion of the issuer’s creditworthiness. These unsolicited ratings are produced as a service to subscribers and other market participants. There is, however, no difference between unsolicited and solicited ratings in terms of the criteria applied and rating committee procedures.

Solicitation status:

Capital Intelligence Ratings discloses the unsolicited nature of the credit rating in credit rating announcements, credit rating reports, and in the credit rating lists published on the Company’s website.

Participation status:

Where the rating is unsolicited but the issuer has participated in the rating process (for example, by management discussing credit-related issues with Capital Intelligence analysts or by supplying financial information that has not been disclosed publicly), Capital Intelligence rating announcements will state the following:

“The ratings have been initiated by Capital Intelligence. However, the issuer participated in the rating process.”

Where the rating is unsolicited and the issuer did not participate in the rating process, Capital Intelligence rating announcements will state the following:

“The ratings have been initiated by Capital Intelligence. The issuer did not participate in the rating process.”

Capital Intelligence also states in rating announcements and in rating reports whether the credit rating committee had access to non-public information, such as the internal accounts, management and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity.

For added clarity, and in accordance with regulatory requirements on credit rating agencies, unsolicited ratings are also colour coded to indicate the participation status of the rated entity and whether Capital Intelligence had access to non-public information. The following colours are used in rating announcements and rating lists:

• Dark Blue rating symbols indicate that the ratings are unsolicited but the rated entity: (a) participated in the rating process; and (b) provided Capital Intelligence with non-public information;
• Green rating symbols indicate that the ratings are unsolicited and that the rated entity did not participate in the rating process.