| | | S&P drops ESG scores from debt ratings amid scrutiny
S&P Global has stopped handing out scores to corporate borrowers on ESG criteria, at a time of rising questions about their utility and political attacks on such metrics.
The debt rating agency has since 2021 published scores from one to five for a company’s exposure to each element of environmental, social and governance risks.
Payments company Visa, for example, had received a two for “E” and “S” and a three for “G”. FirstEnergy, an Ohio utility that has been charged with corruption, received a four score for “G”, S&P’s second-lowest grade.
Late last week S&P reversed course, saying that only text, not numerical scores, would comprise analysis of a company’s ESG matters.
“We have determined that the dedicated analytical narrative paragraphs in our credit rating reports are most effective at providing detail and transparency on ESG credit factors material to our rating analysis,” the rating agency said.
ft.com
A small backtrack. We need more.
Tom |
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