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Rating Agency: Definition & Meaning | Bondfish

What it means

A rating agency (formally a credit rating agency, or CRA) studies a borrower’s finances and assigns a credit rating on a fixed scale. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch run from AAA at the top down to D for default; Moody’s uses Aaa down to C. The higher the grade, the lower the estimated chance the borrower misses a payment.

A rating is an opinion, not a guarantee or a recommendation to buy. Most ratings are paid for by the issuer being rated — the “issuer-pays” model — which is why the agencies are regulated. In the EU, any agency whose ratings are used for regulatory purposes must be registered with and supervised by ESMA (the European Securities and Markets Authority) under the CRA Regulation.

The Big Three — and Europe’s smaller rating agencies

Three firms dominate globally and in Europe: S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings. ESMA’s December 2025 market-share report (based on 2024 revenue) shows how concentrated the EU market is:

Rating agency (EU entity)EU market share 2025
S&P Global Ratings 50.4%
Moody’s 29.6%
Fitch Ratings 11.8%
All other EU-registered agencies (16 firms) ~8.1% combined

Together the Big Three hold roughly 92% of the EU market. The rest is split between 16 smaller registered agencies, including European names such as Scope Ratings (Germany) and DBRS Morningstar. EU rules under Article 8d actively nudge issuers to also consider an agency with under 10% market share, to encourage competition.

Why it matters for bond investors

A rating agency’s grade sets the dividing line between investment grade (BBB−/Baa3 and above) and high yield, or “junk”, below it — a border that shapes both the yield you earn and which funds are even allowed to hold the bond. When an agency upgrades an issuer, borrowing costs tend to fall and prices rise; a downgrade usually does the opposite.

Use ratings as one input, not gospel. The agencies were widely criticised for over-rating mortgage products before the 2008 crisis, and ratings can lag a deteriorating market. Pair them with your own checks on yield, maturity and the issuer’s finances — the Bondfish bond screener lets you filter bonds by rating and yield, and our guide to selecting quality investment-grade bonds shows how to put those grades to work.

Related terms

This definition is for general information only and is not investment advice. Bond investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.