General Info

John Knowles Fitch founded Fitch Ratings as the Fitch Publishing Company in 1913. It began as a publisher of financial statistics whose consumers included the New York Stock Exchange. The company became a leader in providing financial statistics to the investment community through publications, such as the Fitch Bond Book and the Fitch Stock and Bond Manual. In 1924, Fitch Ratings introduced the AAA to D ratings scale for independent analysis of financial securities. Fitch Ratings maintains coverage of 3,100 financial institutions, including 1,600 banks and 1,400 insurance companies. It also covers finance and leasing companies and broker-dealers. Additionally, the company rates more than 1,200 corporate issuers and 89 sovereigns, and maintains surveillance on 45,000 municipal transactions. Fitch Ratings is dual-headquartered in New York and London. It operates offices and joint ventures in more than 50 locations worldwide, including Chicago. Fitch Ratings is a subsidiary of Fimalac, an international business support services group with headquarters in Paris.