MIAMI, April 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HR Ratings, leading credit rating agency with nearly two decades of experience and more than 14,000 ratings issued worldwide, announces the expansion of its U.S. operations, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the U.S. market. As part of this effort, HR Ratings welcomes Gregory Root as Business Development Executive Director, adding depth to its leadership team and accelerating its growth in key sectors.
Gregory Root has nearly 40 years of experience in credit ratings, investment banking, and capital markets. He has held senior leadership roles at Kroll Bond Ratings, DBRS, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. As President of Thomson BankWatch, he led the agency’s growth into the world’s largest bank rating firm at the time, overseeing teams across 60 countries.
“Greg brings a deep understanding of the U.S. market and will play a critical role in supporting HR Ratings´ growth and establishment in this market.” said Veronica Cordero, Head of Business Development of HR Ratings.
HR Ratings is registered as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for corporates, public finance, and financial institutions, certified by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). HR Ratings is also approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) as credit rating providers (CRP). In addition, the rating agency is certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) as approved verifiers for green bonds.
With a local team based in Coral Gables, Florida, HR Ratings offers a full range of credit evaluation services. The agency has already issued over 2,300 credit ratings historically in the U.S. and evaluated more than 300 U.S.-based entities, serving a market that increasingly seeks agile, transparent, and rigorous credit analysis.
“This marks an important step forward as we scale our presence in the U.S.,” said Alberto Ramos, Chairman of the Board of HR Ratings. “Our model is built on transparency, accessibility, highest quality service, and analytical rigor—qualities that matter to U.S. issuers and investors looking for real alternatives in a concentrated ratings market.”
About HR Ratings
HR Ratings, LLC (HR Ratings), is a Credit Rating Agency registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) for the assets of public finance, corporates and financial institutions as described in section 3 (a) (62) (A) and (B) subsection (i), (iii) and (v) of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The following information can be found on our website at www.hrratings.com: (i) The internal procedures for the monitoring and surveillance of our ratings and the periodicity with which they are formally updated, (ii) the criteria used by HR Ratings for the withdrawal or suspension of the maintenance of a rating, (iii) the procedure and process of voting on our Analysis Committee, and (iv) the rating scales and their definitions.
The ratings and/or opinions of HR Ratings are opinions regarding the credit quality and/or the asset management capacity, or relative to the performance of the tasks aimed at the fulfillment of the corporate purpose, by issuing companies and other entities or sectors, and are based on exclusively in the characteristics of the entity, issue and/or operation, regardless of any business activity between HR Ratings and the entity or issuer. The ratings and/or opinions granted are issued on behalf of HR Ratings and not of its management or technical personnel and do not constitute recommendations to buy, sell or maintain any instrument, or to carry out any type of business, investment or operation, and may be subject to updates at any time, in accordance with the rating methodologies of HR Ratings.
HR Ratings bases its ratings and/or opinions on information obtained from sources that are believed to be accurate and reliable. HR Ratings, however, does not validate, guarantee or certify the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of such information. Most issuers of debt securities rated by HR Ratings have paid a fee for the credit rating based on the amount and type of debt issued. The degree of creditworthiness of an issue or issuer, opinions regarding asset manager quality or ratings related to an entity’s performance of its business purpose are subject to change, which can produce a rating upgrade or downgrade, without implying any responsibility for HR Ratings. The ratings issued by HR Ratings are assigned in an ethical manner, in accordance with healthy market practices and in compliance with applicable regulations found on the www.hrratings.com rating agency webpage. HR Ratings’ Code of Conduct, rating methodologies, rating criteria and current ratings can also be found on the website.
Ratings and/or opinions assigned by HR Ratings are based on an analysis of the creditworthiness of an entity, issue or issuer, and do not necessarily imply a statistical likelihood of default, HR Ratings defines as the inability or unwillingness to satisfy the contractually stipulated payment terms of an obligation, such that creditors and/or bondholders are forced to take action in order to recover their investment or to restructure the debt due to a situation of stress faced by the debtor. Without disregard to the afore mentioned point, in order to validate our ratings, our methodologies consider stress scenarios as a complement to the analysis derived from a base case scenario. The fees HR Ratings receives from issuers generally range from US$1,000 to $1,000,000 (one million dollars, legal tender in the United States of America) (or the equivalent in another currency) per offering. In some cases, HR Ratings will rate all or some of a particular issuer’s offerings for an annual fee. Annual fees are estimated to vary between $5,000 and US$2,000,000 (five thousand to two million dollars, legal tender in the United States of America) (or the equivalent in another currency).
Contacts Sofia Fraser – Miranda Media Agency sofia.fraser@miranda-partners.com Verónica Cordero – Head of Business Development veronica.cordero@hrratings.com Daniela Menache – Communications Associate daniela.menache@hrratings.com Gregory Root - Business Development Executive Director gregory.root@hrratings.com
