Thursday, March 28, 2024

224 Stephen Joynt
CEO - Fitch Ratings Ltd

Advocating greater transparency in the rating process

Stephen W. Joynt is chief executive officer of Fitch Group, Inc. the smallest of the major credit rating agencies, one of the three originally recognised by the SEC as an 'NRSRO'.

He became CEO of Fitch Ratings in 2001 having joined the company in 1989 as an original member of the team that acquired and restructured Fitch Investors Service and served as its president and a member of the board of directors beginning in 1994. In December 1997, Steve was named president and chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors of Fitch IBCA, a company formed through the merger of Fitch Investors Service and IBCA Limited of London. In 2000, he managed the integration of the acquisitions of Duff & Phelps and Thomson BankWatch to create the present Fitch Ratings.

He is an advocate for greater transparency in the rating process, and, in common with his colleagues in the other agencies, takes every opportunity to emphasise the importance of fundamental credit analysis in assigning and maintaining ratings.