CRIF Earns Credit Rating Agency Registration

Ability to Provide Commercial Credit Ratings Throughout E.U. Strengthens Company’s Position as Worldwide Credit Management Market Leader

BOLOGNA, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CRIF today announced that it has obtained Credit Rating Agency (CRA) registration from CONSOB and ESMA – the Italian and European authorities for supervising securities and markets. The registration, which was finalized on December 23, means that CRIF business credit ratings can be used and are valid in all European Union countries.

“We are very proud of having obtained registration as a credit rating agency”

"We are very proud of having obtained registration as a credit rating agency,” commented CRIF CEO, Carlo Gherardi. “Getting our CRA activities underway and obtaining CRA registration represent very important steps in CRIF’s growth strategy in business credit risk assessment services. CRIF has invested and will continue to invest significantly in its methodologies, tools and business assessment processes because we are sure that there will be a growing need within various market segments for independent and accurate business evaluations.”

The analyses carried out within the CRIF Rating Department help widen the view of a company, assessing its competitive positioning in its industry and, in the case of a company that is part of a corporate group, assessing any impacts on the company rating from an overall analysis of the group. Ratings differ from credit scoring in that, in addition to incorporating quantitative elements, they are derived from an assessment process carried out by a team of analysts with proven experience.

Thanks to the company’s investments and data acquired in recent years, CRIF can now offer the market completely distinctive services, bringing together unique information assets, robust methodologies and analyses, outsourced engineered systems, business process outsourcing, and software and consultancy services, which are indispensable to financial institutions for the improvement of business management processes throughout the entire credit lifecycle.

About CRIF

CRIF is a global company specializing in the development and management of credit reporting, business information and decision support systems. Established in 1988 in Bologna, Italy, CRIF is not only the leader in Italy in the field of retail credit management and lending solutions, but is also the leading group in continental Europe in the field of banking credit information and one of the main operators on an international level concerning integrated services for business and commercial information and for credit and marketing management. The company’s U.S. arm is CRIF Lending Solutions, which delivers automated lending technology and services to financial institutions of all sizes and is the nation’s largest loan origination solutions provider. Currently, more than 1,800 banks and financial institutions all over the world use CRIF services on a daily basis. For more information, visit www.crif.com.