A Comparative Analysis of Internal and External Credit Ratings

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance grade: 15 EBS European Business School gGmbH language: English abstract: The text contains a 'Comparative Analysis of Internal and External Credit Ratings'. It compares and explains both concept and concludes what impact both have on the Mid-Market Companies in Germany.In 2012 mid-market companies (KMU) based in Germany generated revenues of 2149.0 billion Euros. They are responsible for 353% of all revenues generated in Germany. These mid-market companies employed 15.97 million people a workforce of 596% of all employees in Germany (IFM Bonn 2014). Clearly mid-market companies are elementary for the German economy. To continue to be a primary motor of the economy they need sufficient funding. Nevertheless financing for mid-market companies in Germany will become more difficult. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (2015 pp. 2-3) estimated that European mid-market companies are going to have difficulties to meet their financing needs as banks reduce their lending to the mid-market sector as consequence of stricter regulations. Especially smaller mid-market companies face problems to access credit loans (Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC 2014 p. 3). The reason for these difficulties is the implementation of Basel III. Financial institutions have to deleverage their business during the next years (Zainzinger 2013). The problem is that mid-market companies traditionally relied on bank funding. Especially German mid-market companies relied on credit loans from financial institutions (Huber & Simmert 2007 p. 167-196). The new regulations for deleveraging create a scarcity of finance for European companies; it will generate an acute financing problem for mid-market companies (Dimitrijevic & Wade 2014 pp. 1-2). In 2013 the German mid-market financing gap already amounted to 389 billion Euros (KfW 2014 p. 7). Therefore these companies have to