DBRS
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| Industry | Credit Rating, Financial Services |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Dominion Bond Rating Service |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founder | Walter Schroeder |
| Headquarters | New York, Chicago, London, DBRS Tower, 181 University Avenue, Suite 700 Toronto, Canada |
| Products | Credit Ratings, Financial Research |
| Divisions | DBRS Limited; DBRS, Inc.; and DBRS Ratings Limited |
| Website | www |
DBRS is a credit rating agency (CRA) founded in 1976 (originally known as Dominion Bond Rating Service) in Toronto by Walter Schroeder, who sold the company to a consortium led by The Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus in December 2014. DBRS is the largest rating agency in Canada with other offices in New York, Chicago, and London. DBRS comprises three affiliated operating companies – DBRS Limited; DBRS, Inc.; and DBRS Ratings Limited. Daniel Curry is the agency’s CEO. DBRS is the fourth largest ratings agency in the world, with about a 2.5% global market share.
DBRS is registered as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization from the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of only 10 companies to hold the designation. DBRS is also registered with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in Canada.
The company is one of only four CRAs, along with larger competitors Standard & Poor’s, Moody's Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings, to receive ECAI recognition from the European Central Bank (ECB). That designation indicates CRAs whose ratings can be used by the ECB to determine collateral requirements for borrowing from the ECB.
DBRS's niche is timely credit ratings that offer insight and transparency across a broad range of financial institutions, corporate entities, government bodies, and various structured finance product groups in North America, Europe, Australasia, and South America. Based in Toronto, with offices in New York, Chicago and London, DBRS is independently owned and operated, is not affiliated with any institution or organization and does not partake in any trading or underwriting activities.
The company was founded by Walter Schroeder, who started sketching out a business plan while driving to Montreal on a family vacation. He developed the ratings agency from scratch, starting the company with less than $1,000. The company opened its first office, a tiny 1,500-square-foot office, in Toronto.
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