History of S&P Global Ratings in Timeline

S&P Global Ratings is a major American credit rating agency and a division of S&P Global. Along with Moody's and Fitch, it is considered one of the 'Big Three' CRAs. The agency provides financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P Global Ratings is headquartered in New York City.

1906: Standard Statistics Bureau Founded

In 1906, Luther Lee Blake established the Standard Statistics Bureau to offer financial data on companies excluding railroads. Unlike annual publications, Standard Statistics utilized 5-by-7-inch cards for more frequent updates.

1922: Publication of The Outlook Began

In 1922, S&P began publishing "The Outlook", a weekly investment advisory newsletter for individual and professional investors.

1941: Standard & Poor's Corp. Formed

In 1941, Paul Talbot Babson acquired Poor's Publishing and merged it with Standard Statistics, creating Standard & Poor's Corp.

1966: Acquisition by McGraw-Hill

In 1966, The McGraw-Hill Companies acquired Standard & Poor's Corp., expanding McGraw-Hill into financial information services.

2000: Issuance of Corporate Governance Scores (CGS) Started

In 2000, S&P developed criteria and methodology for assessing corporate governance and began issuing Corporate Governance Scores (CGS) to evaluate corporate governance practices of public U.S. corporations upon request.

2005: CGS Issuance Stopped

In 2005, S&P discontinued issuing Corporate Governance Scores (CGS).

2006: Rembrandt 2006-2 and 2006-3 CPDO notes Rated

In 2006, S&P gave AAA rating for the Rembrandt 2006-2 and 2006-3 CPDO notes.

2007: Real Estate Bubble Burst

In 2007, the real estate bubble burst, causing many loans to default and leading to staggering losses for investors in highly rated CDOs.

2008: Role in the 2008 Financial Crisis

In 2008, S&P was cited for contributing to the financial crisis by assigning AAA ratings to risky pools of loans in the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market.

April 2009: Call for New Faces in Irish Government

In April 2009, S&P called for "new faces" in the Irish government, which was seen as interfering in the democratic process, and later stated they were "misunderstood".

November 2009: European Commission Charges S&P

In November 2009, the European Commission formally charged S&P with abusing its position as the sole provider of international securities identification codes for United States of America securities.

August 5, 2011: US Credit Rating Downgraded

On August 5, 2011, S&P lowered the US's sovereign long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+ following the enactment of the Budget Control Act of 2011.

November 11, 2011: Erroneous Announcement of France's Rating Cut

On November 11, 2011, S&P erroneously announced the cut of France's triple-A rating (AAA), prompting calls for more regulation of private credit rating agencies.

2011: US$2 Trillion Error Acknowledged

In 2011, S&P acknowledged making a US$2 trillion error in its justification for downgrading the credit rating of the United States, but stated that it "had no impact on the rating decision".

2011: Governance Scores Discontinued

In 2011, S&P discontinued providing stand-alone Governance, Accountability, Management Metrics and Analysis (GAMMA) scores but continued to incorporate governance analysis in credit ratings.

January 13, 2012: France's AAA Rating Lowered

On January 13, 2012, S&P truly cut France's AAA rating, lowering it to AA+. The same day, S&P downgraded the rating of eight other European countries: Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia and Cyprus.

November 2012: Criteria for Evaluating Insurers and Non-Financial Enterprises

In November 2012, S&P published its criteria for evaluating management and governance credit factors of insurers and non-financial enterprises, incorporating enterprise risk management analysis in debt ratings.

November 2012: Judgement on Rembrandt 2006-3 CPDO rating

In November 2012, the Federal Court of Australia found that a reasonably competent ratings agency could not have rated the Rembrandt 2006-3 CPDO AAA and that S&P’s rating was misleading and deceptive.

April 15, 2013: Access to Evidence Granted

On April 15, 2013, the Department of Justice was ordered to grant S&P access to evidence in the fraud case.

2013: Justice Department Charges S&P with Fraud

In 2013, the Justice Department charged Standard & Poor's with fraud in a $5 billion lawsuit, leading to speculation about retaliation for a previous downgrade.