WASHINGTON — Kroll Bond Rating Agency has reached agreement with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to have the agency's ratings available on EMMA.
The growing rating agency and the muni self regulator announced the agreement in separate statements Friday. The MSRB began providing ratings from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's on EMMA in 2011, and ratings information from KBRA will become available this fall.
"The addition of KBRA credit ratings to EMMA gives investors yet another tool to make more informed decisions about municipal bonds," said MSRB executive director Lynnette Kelly. "The MSRB welcomes KBRA's participation and support of EMMA's goal to enhance access to municipal market information."
KBRA, Standard & Poor's and Fitch are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The MSRB has invited all NRSROs to provide their municipal credit ratings on EMMA, but they are not obligated to. Ratings displayed on EMMA arrive through automated data feeds from the participating agencies, according to the MSRB. These feeds provide ratings information to the MSRB throughout the day, typically providing information on individual rating actions on specific muni bonds.
Kroll has aggressively expanded its muni market business since it first entered the space three years ago. It addedfour more public finance veterans last month. The company's muni ratings business remains much smaller than those of Standard and Poor's, Fitch, or Moody's Investors Service.
"We believe in the MSRB's mission to provide investors with real time info," said Jim Nadler, president of Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. "This is another milestone for our firm and recognition of our market acceptance within the public finance space."
