Have Credit Rating Agencies Become More Stringent towards Japanese Regional Banks?*
Have Credit Rating Agencies Become More Stringent towards Japanese Regional Banks?*

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates empirically whether foreign and domestic credit rating agencies tightened their standards for evaluating Japanese regional banks from 2000 to 2009. We extend and enhance previous studies by estimating an ordered probit model using pooled data for this period. Our results reveal that foreign agencies did not rate Japanese regional banks more stringently during this period, perhaps because they wished not to repel clients and reduce their revenues. Japan’s rating agencies showed the opposite tendency, perhaps to seek credibility among foreign investors.

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