The Israeli capital market's positive trend features a record boom in bond issues, which fosters demand for ratings.
International rating agency Moody’s announced today that it would increase its stake in Israeli rating company Midroog. Moody’s said that it had been motivated by the positive trend on the Israeli capital market, which featured a record boom in bond issues.
ILD Insurance Holdings chairman and general manager Ron Weissberg and Singer & Even Ltd. founders Joseph Singer and Dr. Eli Kraizberg founded Midroog two years ago. Midroog is now one of two local rating companies active in the Israeli market, together with Maalot The Israeli Rating Company, an older company, whose partner is international rating agency S&P.
Midroog chairman Gideon Eilat said that Midroog and Maalot currently shared the market for credit ratings of new issues equally, while Maalot still had a larger market share among older companies. Eilat added that he thought that Midroog had an advantage in the rating of structured products, and noted that it was the only company that was currently rating exchange trading funds (ETF), one of the most popular investment instruments in the market over the past year.
The initial agreement between Midroog and Moody’s one of the top three international rating agencies, was signed in August 2003, when Midroog was founded.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 1, 2005