Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) was incorporated in 1987 and started operations in 1988, becoming India's first credit rating agency.

"AAA" ratings indicate the highest degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations and carry the lowest credit risk.

The CIBIL score ranges from 300 to 900. A score closer to 900 indicates high creditworthiness and lower risk for the lender.

Sovereign ratings give investors insight into the level of risk associated with investing in the debt of a particular country (national government).

CIBIL (TransUnion CIBIL) is a Credit Information Company (CIC) that maintains credit records of individuals/companies, not a Credit Rating Agency (CRA) that rates debt instruments. CRAs evaluate the creditworthiness of issuers of debt securities.

Ratings of BBB- (or equivalent) and above signify adequate safety regarding timely payment and are termed "Investment Grade." Ratings below this (BB and lower) are "Speculative" or "Junk" grade.

Rating Shopping misleads investors about the true risk. SEBI has introduced strict disclosure norms to curb this, requiring issuers to disclose all ratings obtained, even those not accepted.

Prudential norms dictate conservatism. If there are two ratings, the lower rating (indicating higher risk) must be used to calculate capital requirements.

A Rating Outlook assesses the potential direction of a long-term credit rating over the intermediate term (usually 6 months to 2 years). A "Negative" outlook means the rating may be lowered.

Sovereign ratings assess the government's ability to repay debt. Macro-economic indicators (Debt, Forex, Stability) matter, not the stock performance of individual private firms.

SEBI mandates CRAs to disclose their rating criteria, methodology, and philosophy to the public to maintain transparency and help investors understand how the creditworthiness was assessed.

NeSL is the first Information Utility registered with IBBI under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. It stores financial information (debts/defaults) to facilitate insolvency resolution.

The Standardized Approach for Credit Risk under Basel norms uses external ratings to assign risk weights (e.g., AAA = 20%, BBB = 50% or 100%) to bank exposures.