Moody's Rating Terms
Long-Term Obligation Ratings
Moody's long-term obligation ratings are opinions of the relative credit risk of fixed-income obligations with an original maturity of one year or more. They address the possibility that a financial obligation will not be honored as promised. Such ratings reflect both the likelihood of default and any financial loss suffered in the event of default.
Aaa - Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk.
Aa - Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A - Obligations rated A are considered upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa - Obligations rated Baa are subject to moderate credit risk. They are considered medium-grade and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.
Ba - Obligations rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B - Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa - Obligations rated Caa are judged to be of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca - Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C - Obligations rated C are the lowest rated class of bonds and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Note: Moody's appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa.
The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category;
the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
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Short-Term Ratings
Moody's short-term ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honor short-term financial obligations. Ratings may be assigned to issuers, short-term programs or to individual short-term debt instruments. Such obligations generally have an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months, unless explicitly noted.
Moody's employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:
P-1 - Issuers rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-2 - Issuers rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-3 - Issuers rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
NP - Issuers rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.
Note: Canadian issuers rated P-1 or P-2 have their short-term ratings enhanced by the senior-most long-term rating of the issuer, its guarantor or support-provider.
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Speculative Grade Liquidity Ratings
Moody's Speculative Grade Liquidity Ratings are opinions of an issuer's relative
ability to generate cash from internal resources and the availability of
external sources of committed financing, in relation to its cash obligations
over the coming 12 months. Speculative Grade Liquidity Ratings will consider
the likelihood that committed sources of financing will remain available. Other
forms of liquidity support will be evaluated and consideration will be given to
the likelihood that these sources will be available during the coming 12
months. Speculative Grade Liquidity Ratings are assigned to speculative grade
issuers that are by definition Not Prime issuers.
SGL-1 - Issuers
rated SGL-1 possess very good liquidity. They are most likely to have the
capacity to meet their obligations over the coming 12 months through internal
resources without relying on external sources of committed financing.
SGL-2 - Issuers
rated SGL-2 possess good liquidity. They are likely to meet their obligations over the coming 12 months through internal
resources but may rely on external sources of committed financing. The issuer's
ability to access committed sources of financing is highly likely based on
Moody's evaluation of near-term covenant compliance.
SGL-3 - Issuers
rated SGL-3 possess adequate liquidity. They are expected to rely on external
sources of committed financing. Based on its evaluation of near-term covenant
compliance, Moody's believes there is only a modest cushion, and the issuer may
require covenant relief in order to maintain orderly access to funding lines.
SGL-4 - Issuers
rated SGL-4 possess weak liquidity. They rely on external sources of financing
and the availability of that financing is, in Moody's opinion, highly
uncertain.
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Absence of a Rating
Where no rating has been assigned or where a rating has been withdrawn, it may be for reasons unrelated to the creditworthiness of the issue.
Should no rating be assigned, the reason may be one of the following:
- An application was not received or accepted.
- The issue or issuer belongs to a group of securities or entities that are not rated as a matter of policy.
- There is a lack of essential data pertaining to the issue or issuer.
- The issue was privately placed, in which case the rating is not published in Moody's publications.
Withdrawal may occur if new and material circumstances arise, the effects of which preclude satisfactory analysis; if there is no longer available reasonable up-to-date data to permit a judgment to be formed; if a bond is called for redemption; or for other reasons.
Rating Outlooks
A Moody's rating outlook is an opinion regarding the likely direction of a rating over the medium term.
Where assigned, rating outlooks fall into the following four categories:
- Positive (POS)
- Negative (NEG)
- Stable (STA)
- Developing (DEV -- contingent upon an event)
In the few instances where an issuer has multiple outlooks of differing directions, an "(m)" modifier (indicating multiple, differing outlooks) will be displayed, and Moody's written research will describe any differences and provide the rationale for these differences.
A RUR (Rating(s) Under Review) designation indicates that the issuer has one or more ratings under review for possible change, and thus overrides the outlook designation. When an outlook has not been assigned to an eligible entity, NOO (No Outlook) may be displayed.
Watchlist
Moody's uses the Watchlist to indicate that a rating is under review for possible change in the short-term. A rating can be placed on review for possible upgrade (UPG), on review for possible downgrade (DNG), or more rarely with direction uncertain (UNC). A credit is removed from the Watchlist when the rating is upgraded, downgraded or confirmed.
Provisional Ratings
As a service to the market and typically at the request of an issuer, Moody's will assign a provisional rating when it is
highly likely that the rating will become final after all documents are received, or an obligation is issued into the market.
A provisional rating is denoted by placing a (P) in front of the rating. Such ratings may also be assigned to shelf registrations under SEC rule 415.
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