12 October 2026
Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) is requesting feedback from rated entities, subscribers, other stakeholders, and market participants on its proposed Notching Guidelines for Issue Ratings.
The proposed cross-sector criteria describe CI Ratings’ approach to assigning issue credit ratings (ISRs) to bonds, sukuk, and other financial obligations. These criteria apply where the ISR reflects the creditworthiness of the obligor (issuer) and is linked by notching to the obligor’s issuer credit rating (ICR) or, where more appropriate, standalone credit assessment. The criteria are not applicable to transactions where the likelihood of timely repayment is dependent upon the performance of an asset, or pool of assets, or on the cash flow generated by a specific project.
The criteria are broadly applicable to all sectors (e.g. corporates, financial institutions, sovereigns). However, separate criteria apply to hybrid instruments issued by banks. Since our ratings on financial obligations generally reflect the fundamental creditworthiness of the obligor, these criteria must be read together with the relevant industry/sector methodology for a complete understanding of how an ISR has been determined.
The criteria, if adopted, will replace CI Ratings’ Bond Rating Methodology. This update better documents what we currently do in practice, and also provides insight into how we might rate certain other types of financial instruments that are not currently rated by CI, such as corporate hybrid securities. We are not proposing to revise our general analytical approach for rating senior financial obligations or conventional subordinated obligations, and our general notching practices will remain the same. Consequently, adoption of the updated criteria would have no impact on existing issue ratings.
Comments on the proposed Notching Guidelines for Issue Ratings should be sent to criteriafeedback@ciratings.com by 13 November 2026.
In accordance with EU regulation, all comments received will be published on our website at the end of the consultation period, unless the respondent requests that their identity and comments be treated as confidential. After the request for comments period, we will review the feedback received and subsequently finalise and publish the updated criteria.
For methodology enquiries contact
Anthony Cooke
Head of Ratings Administration and Internal Review
E-mail: anthony.cooke@ciratings.com
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