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Investors in commercial paper (CP) markets include money market mutual funds, corporate treasurers, state and local governments, and commercial banks and their trust departments. The obligors in the market are predominantly large and highly creditworthy corporations. The credit risks faced by CP investors have been minimal historically. However, the general decline in corporate credit quality that began in the first half of the 1980s set the stage for the spate of credit problems and defaults that took place in many CP markets beginning in 1987. While the incidence of default has decreased since 1991, the credit risks faced by commercial paper investors have not subsided to pre‐1987 levels. This analysis addresses concerns generated by this surge in credit risk.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether credit ratings issued by Fitch predict auditor’s opinion for the Tunisian financial companies. It studies the association between Fitch’s credit rating and the audit opinion.

The whole population was analyzed. It is composed of 35 banks, leasing companies and factoring companies in Tunisia. The hand-collected data over 11 years (2005–2015) were used and a multiple-ordered logistic regression was performed.

The findings show that firms with a high short-term grade, a high long-term grade or a positive outlook are more likely to receive an unqualified audit opinion. In addition, companies with a stable outlook are more likely to receive an explanatory paragraph, a qualification or a going-concern opinion.

Studies examining the relationship between credit ratings and audit opinion are rare. This piece of research adds to knowledge about the relationship between different components of agency ratings and the auditor’s opinion in a developing country. Previous studies have investigated the case of developed countries and have been interested in the only impact of the long-term credit rating. This study analyzes three components of credit rating, namely long-term credit rating, short-term credit rating and rating outlook. In addition, it sheds light on the effect of various rating grades issued by rating agencies on the audit opinion. It gives a broader view of the relationship between credit ratings and audit opinion.

This study empirically examines, from the first quarter of 1981 until the fourth quarter of 2017, the relations across customary domestic issuer credit ratings (long-term, short-term and subordinate) and three popular corporate risk-taking measurements (the variability of operating profitability, net profitability, and research and development expenses).

The author deploys categorical regressions and robustness tests with control variables, interaction terms, fixed effect variables, lag variables and delta variables.

The author documents that both short-term and subordinate domestic credit ratings are key determinants of the volatility of operating profitability. The author also identifies long-term credit ratings as secondary factors, yet they do affect broader corporate risk-taking behavioral features (along all three measurements). Furthermore, the author finds that the higher (lower) the credit ratings assigned, i.e. the superior (inferior) the credit quality externally judged, the more (less) overall risk firms tend to undertake.

It is the first research to examine both the inclusive influence and the granular effects of credit ratings on corporate risk-taking (CRT) behavior. It is also the only enquiry to inspect the specific relationships along three types of domestic issuer credit ratings: long-term, short-term and subordinate ratings.

This study focuses on the relationship between informal relationships, work ethics and (short‐time) absenteeism. According to self‐categorisation theory, which elaborates on the social identity theory, hypotheses were formulated for the relationship between consensus in work ethics within teams, informal relationships (cohesiveness) and short‐term absenteeism. The hypotheses were tested within two Dutch organisations: study 1 concerns a housing corporation (n=53, eight teams), and study 2 concerns a nursing home (n=97, nine teams). As expected, consensus in work ethics and cohesiveness within a team were positively related. Results from multi‐level analyses showed as expected, a negative relationship between cohesiveness within a team and short‐term absenteeism of employees. Furthermore, an interaction‐effect was found in the first study, but not in the second: the more cohesive the team, the stronger the relationships between work ethics and short‐term absenteeism. Findings are discussed in terms of recommendations for further research and practical implications.

Jefferson County, Alabama undertook a series of risky financial maneuvers in 2003 that included issuing large amounts of variable rate and auction rate securities as well as engaging in numerous interest rate swaps in order to lower the burgeoning costs of repairing its sewer system to comply with federal regulations. These complex financial instruments, intended to lower debt service costs on the countyʼs $3 billion in outstanding sewer warrants, led the county to financial bankruptcy in the wake of the financial markets collapse. This paper explores the choice of securities by analyzing the risk of adjustable rate securities and interest rate swaps, examining the Jefferson County case in detail, and providing some lessons for future financial management within the context of unexpected events such as the current recession.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of board attributes on Sukuk rating in firms listed in Bursa Malaysia (Malaysian Stock Exchange) during the period of 2008 to 2013.

This study uses ordinal logit regression model to examine the influence of board attributes (CEO-chairman duality, board size and board independence) on the dependent variable (RATING).

The findings of this paper generally support the agency theory and stakeholder theory. Results show that after controlling for firm characteristics, the Sukuk rating is positively associated with CEO-chairman duality, board size and board independence; and negatively correlated with leverage while positively related to profitability and size. The findings of this study also provide evidence that having two positions in an organization as CEO and chairman could have added higher responsibility towards making corporate decisions and provide better Sukuk rating performance. In addition, findings show that the larger the board size, the better Sukuk rating. Also, higher board independence enjoys higher rating.

This study was limited to the investigation of the relationship between board attributes (CEO duality, board size and board independence) on Sukuk ratings using aggregate data from 2008 to 2013 among Malaysian Sukuk issuers.

The findings of this paper describe the impact of board attributes on Sukuk rating in Malaysian Sukuk market which in turn gives the useful insights to many of the actors in the markets such as issuers, investors and policymakers which can be relied upon in making strategic decisions to issue and invest in Islamic bonds in Malaysian market. In addition, the findings could prove to be useful also for regulators because they are responsible for the acceptable level of corporate governance standards.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by focusing heavily on enhancing Sukuk ratings by reducing conflict between managers and Sukuk holders in Malaysia. Additionally, this study benefits from the agency theory and stakeholder theory to provide evidence on the effect of board attributes on Sukuk rating.

In July 2008 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published three proposals relating to the use of credit ratings in its rules and forms. The proposals were designed to address concerns that the misuse of credit ratings may have contributed to the current crisis. The SEC sought market feedback regarding the effect the removal of credit rating references may produce on the markets.

This article examines the use of ratings by various market constituents, analyzes the details of the SEC proposals, and reviews the provided feedback. The main finding is that the majority of the market participants opposed the SEC proposals. Fiduciaries and regulated entities are looking to regulators to offer a common measure of risk, stable, accurate and free of conflict of interests.