CRISIL Ltd is a globally-diversified analytical Company, providing ratings services, data, research, risk and policy advisory, analytics and solution services. The Company is India's leading ratings agency. CRISIL is the foremost provider of high-end research to the world's largest banks and leading corporations. CRISIL delivers analysis, opinions, and solutions that make markets function better.
The Company's businesses operate from India, the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Argentina, China, Poland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Apart from this, they are majority owned by S&P Global Inc (SPGI), the world's foremost provider of credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics in the global capital and commodity markets offering ESG solutions, deep data and insights on critical economic, market and business factors. The Company work with commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, private equity players, hedge funds and asset management companies globally. It also work with governments and policymakers in the infrastructure space in India and other emerging markets.
CRISIL operates through 3 business segments: Ratings, Research and Advisory. Rating services include credit ratings for corporates, banks, small and medium enterprises (SME), training in the credit rating field, credit analysis services, grading services and global analytical services. Research segment provides equity research, industry reports, customized research assignments, subscription to data services and initial public offer grading. It operates from seven research centers worldwide.
CRISIL was incorporated in the year 1987 with the name Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. The company was promoted by leading financial institutions, nationalised banks, foreign banks and private sector banks. During the year 1995-96, they formed a strategic alliance with Standard & Poor's rating group, New York. They also made a tie up with International Information Vendors for dissemination of CRISIL Ratings. The company launched CRISIL 500 equity index during the year.
During the year 1996-97, the company introduced the ratings on mutual funds, bank loan ratings and public finance ratings. During the next year, they developed and launched municipal bond ratings and also launched financial strength rating for insurance companies. The company with National Stock Exchange set up a joint venture company with the name IISL for undertaking index business and related activities. They also launched Crisil MNC Index and Crisil Indian Business Groups Index during the year.
During the year 1999-2000, the company acquired the business of Information Products and Research Services (India) Pvt Ltd, alongwith their brand INFAC. During the next year, they introduced mutual fund ranking service for the domestic mutual fund market. They also launched Crisil-Naredco ratings initiative for the real estate sector.
During the year 2001-02, the company launched Crisil MarketWire which is a real time financial news service. During the year 2002-03, they set up Investment and Risk Management Services which is an independent division and also offer evaluation services for film and TV software producers.
During the year 2003-04, the company name was changed from Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd to Crisil Ltd. They acquired Gas strategies Group Ltd, a London based company, engaged in as consulting, information and training/ conferences. Also, they made an equity investment in the Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services Ltd which is the first regional rating agency in the world.
During the year 2004-05, Irevna group of companies was acquired by the company. The company transferred the Advisory Business of the company to Crisil MarketWire Ltd with effect from April 01, 2007. Crisil Research & Information Services Ltd, Global Data Services of India Ltd and Irevna Research Services Ltd merged with the company with effect from April 1, 2007.
In February 2008, the company reached a preliminary understanding with Equifax Inc, USA and Tata Capital Ltd for setting up a Credit Information Company in India. They also proposed to set up a subsidiary in Poland and Duabi through their wholly owned subsidiary, Irevana Ltd, UK.
In the year 2008, CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory was reorganised with the seperation of business development and delivery functions. They completed a large number of international engagements. The company divested 90% of their equity in their UK subsidiary, Gas Strategies Group Ltd (GSG), to the GSG management team. The company now has a 10% shareholding in the company.
In the year 2009, the company launched a first-of-its-kind publication, India's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions, profiling the leading microfinance institutions in India. They assigned India's first-ever rating for securitisation of microfinance receivables. They introduced CreditAlerts to provide Insights to market participants on trends in specific sectors. They extended operations at Global Analytical Centre to 24/6 to provide real-time support o Standard& Poor's during Us market hour.
In the year 2010, the company launched Real Estate Star Ratings,a first-of-its-kind service for retail investors in the real estate sector. They expanded operations at Global Analytical Centre (GAC) to support Standard & Poor's (S&P). In September 22, 2010, the company signed agreements for the acquisition of the assets of Pipal Research Corporation (PRC) including 100% of the share capital of Pipal Research Analytics and Information Services India Pvt Ltd. After completion of all conditions precedent, the transaction was completed with effect from December 3, 2010.
In the year 2011, the company launched Education Grading, Solar Grading and, Gold and Gilt Index. CRISIL Global Research & Analytics received NASSCOM Exemplary Talent Practices Award.
In 2012, CRISIL achieved a landmark of assigning its 10,000th bank loan rating. In 2013, McGraw Hill Financial Increased Stake in CRISIL to 67.8%. During the year, CRISIL launched CRISIL Inclusix, India's most comprehensive financial inclusion index which accurately measures the extent of financial inclusion in the country, right down to each of the 632 districts.
In 2014, CRISIL assigned rating for India's first Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities. During the year, CRISIL introduced Fund Management Capability Ratings for the mutual fund industry.
In 2015, CRISIL approved the proposal to invest in financial technology companies in areas/sectors that are deemed strategic for CRISIL. CRISIL Ltd. has approved the Scheme of Amalgamation of its three wholly owned subsidiary companies, with the Company. During the year, CRISIL assigned rating to an innovative partially guaranteed debenture issue of a passive infrastructure SPV backed by first-loss partial guarantee from IIFCL.
In 2016, CRISIL launched the first hybrid issuance ratings in the insurance sector. During the year, CRISIL launched first Infrastructure Rating on the Expected Loss' scale.
In 2017, CRISIL launched smefirst, an online platform that allows SMEs easy access to ratings and other related services. During the year, CRISIL acquired 8.9% stake in rival credit rating agency CARE Ratings. During the year, CRISIL launched India's first infrastructure investability index. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and CRISIL signed a MoU to launch India's first MSME Sentiment index named CriSidEx. During the year, CRISIL launched rankings for unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs).Also during the year, CRISIL entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% stake in Pragmatix Services Private Limited, a data analytics company. Headquartered in Mumbai, Pragmatix provides analytics and solutions to retail and commercial banks, financial institutions, asset managers, insurers and telecom companies. Pragmatix provides solutions across the risk, sales, and finance domains in India, Middle East and North America. Pragmatix's intellectual property includes a proprietary enterprise data analytics platform with pre-configured data models, KPIs and algorithms that offer accelerated business solutions.
In 2018, CRISIL launched India's first index to benchmark performance of investments of foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in the fixed-income market, in both rupee and dollar versions.
On 21 May 2018, CRISIL announced that it has assigned India's first rating for road projects based on the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model. The rating, Provisional CRISIL AA-(SO)/Stable1', was assigned to the bank facilities of nine special purpose vehicles (SPVs) sponsored by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund 2 (MAIF 2) under the TOT model.
During year 2019-20, the Company acquired Greenwich Associates, a leading provider of proprietary benchmarking data, analytics and qualitative insights to financial services firms worldwide. In 2020, CRISIL Ratings assigned a rating to the first dealer securitisation transaction in India and seven covered bond transactions. It launched benchmark indices for the domestic Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) industry. It remained the largest provider of fixed income indices in India and consolidated the position by launching two new indices in 2020, taking the total count to 98. CRISIL enhanced Alphatrax, the wealth tracking solution, with six new reports and addition of two key asset classes, AIF and PMS to go with existing direct equity, direct debt and mutual fund coverage.
During the year 2020-21, UK-based non-operating wholly-owned subsidiary, Greenwich Associates UK (Holdings) Limited was closed post receiving the requisite approval of the competent authorities, which consequently has ceased to be a subsidiary of CRISIL Limited in December, 2020.
During the year 2020-21 , Company sold its property, CRISIL House, situated at Chakala, Andheri East, in Mumbai for sale consideration amounting to Rs. 49 crore. CRISIL Limited (CRISIL) has transferred its Ratings business to its wholly owned subsidiary, CRISIL Ratings Limited, which completed with effect from December 31, 2020.
In 2021, CRISIL launched a series of thought leadership initiatives during the year, which were extensively covered by the media and well-appreciated by stakeholders. It announced over 1000 new ratings in 2021; total ratings outstanding were ~7,000. It had a leading position in the corporate bond market, backed by preference for quality ratings among investors as well as issuers. It focused on high-growth segments and existing relationships consolidated their share in the bond market. It also on boarded over 150 new large corporate clients. It continued to be a leading credit rating agency in the BLR space. As part of ongoing process improvement initiatives, CRISIL launched a new technology-based workflow platform for Ratings operations. It launched 'CRISIL ESG Gauge', an assessment of Indian companies based on a proprietary Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) framework in June, 2021. The Industry Research vertical launched comprehensive sectoral reports and databases targeted at corporate clients. The Funds & Fixed Income Research business maintained a dominant position, driven by momentum in benchmarking and grading services for AIFs, and valuations for fixed income and structured products. It launched nine new indices in 2021, taking the total to 107. Quantix, a strategic initiative in the data and analytics space, improved its value proposition by enhancing data coverage and strengthening analytical tools.
As on December 31, 2021, the Company had 3 Indian and 13 overseas wholly owned subsidiaries.
During 2021-22, the merger of CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited and Pragmatix Services India Private Limited into and with CRISIL (the Company) through the Scheme of Amalgamation was made effective from September 1, 2022. Consequent to the amalgamation, the risk solutions, business intelligence and infrastructure consultancy businesses was consolidated under CRISIL's Market Intelligence and Analytics business. Thereafter, the Company announced 1,200+ new bank loan ratings (BLRs), a 20% growth on-year. It launched 38 new fixed income indices in 2022 to the new benchmarking requirements of mutual funds, and another 21 for passive mutual fund launches; launched CRISIL AIF benchmarks for sub-categories; enhanced the features in Alphatrax, wealth tracking solution, through effort to consistently improve and enrich customer experience and introduced Quantix, data and analytics platform, developed new capabilities for non-financial data. The Company increased share of business from international markets. It increased traction in regulatory solutions, especially in the asset classification and provisioning solution; integrated Solution with data gaining good traction on credit monitoring and automation.