Fitch Group

The Fitch Group is a jointly owned subsidiary of FIMALAC and Hearst Corporation. On April 12, 2012, Hearst increased their stake in the Fitch Group to 50%. Fitch Ratings and Fitch Solutions are part of the Fitch Group.

Fitch Ratings, dual-headquartered in New York and London, was one of the three Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975, together with Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is considered one of the "Big Three credit rating agencies" (Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings).

The firm was founded by John Knowles Fitch on December 24, 1913 in New York City as the Fitch Publishing Company. It merged with London-based IBCA Limited in December 1997. In 2000 Fitch acquired both Chicago-based Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (April) and Thomson Financial BankWatch (December). Fitch Ratings is the smallest of the "big three" NRSROs, covering a more limited share of the market than S&P and Moody's, though it has grown with acquisitions and frequently positions itself as a "tie-breaker" when the other two agencies have ratings similar, but not equal, in scale.

In September 2011, Fitch Group announced the sale of Algorithmics (risk analytics software) to IBM for $387 million. The deal closed on October 21, 2011.

Read more about Fitch Group:  Long-term Credit Ratings, Short-term Credit Ratings, Fitch Solutions, Criticism

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