Rating agency Icra, after setting up joint ventures in Oman and Nepal, is planning a series of international forays including a joint venture in Kuwait, two other Asian countries and some African nations such as Sudan.
"With the Basle committee norms stipulating mandatory rating of papers in all markets, many countries have proposed joint ventures and are actively pursuing some of these," P K Choudhury, managing director. He, however, refused to divulge the countries where Icra was planning a foray.
He said although these ventures were not expected to be profitable in the initial two-three years, they would gradually start generating enough revenues once rating becomes a commonly accepted practice by corporates.
Speaking about new products developed by Icra, Choudhury said the agency had recently introduced the concept of corporate governance ratings (CGR) in India, making it only the second entity after Standard & Poor to offer such a product.
CGR would indicate the relative level to which a company accepts and follows guidelines of corporate governance practices. The focus of Icra's CGR will be on corporates' business practices and quality of disclosure standards with respect to the requirements of regulators and interests of its financial stakeholders - shareholders, lenders and creditors.
Choudhury said that Icra was in talks with corporates to convince them to become CGR rated. "We have already rated one company and are in talks with some others and this model would gain popularity over the next few years," he said, adding the agency was also exploring a hybrid rating that would combine corporate governance with the available financial parameters.
Mutual funds ratings in partnership with Moody's, the largest stakeholder in Icra, was another area that the rater had its focus on. Icra had already rated one mutual fund, he said.
Another new product being offered by Icra is rating of healthcare institutions, for which it has tied up with the Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC). The rating is expected to benefit users who would be able to make an informed choice as also the healthcare institutions, who would be able to differentiate themselves to offer better value to their customers and make them more bankable, Choudhury said.
The rating would also benefit regulators to set standards and health insurance companies identify institutions recognised by them, he added.
