TRIS welcomes a second credit rating agency to Thailand, believing it will be beneficial to Thai bond market. Competition among CRAs will improve the credit rating business in Thailand and will benefit investors and issuers. TRIS also guarantees that its rating process takes 6-8 weeks, which is the same as international CRAs, and that its analysts have been selected with highest qualifications and average 5-years experience in various industries.
Dr. Warapatr Todhanakasem, President of Thai Rating and Information Services Co., Ltd. (TRIS), Thailand's only credit rating agency, said in a press' interview Thursday 14 September 2000 that he supports the idea of establishing a second credit rating agency in Thailand. "Since my first year at TRIS, I have expressed my support for opening another CRA as soon as possible to help TRIS assign ratings to issues. Being the only CRA makes a de facto monopoly. Investors and issuers should have more options," he said. Dr. Warapatr said he believes in competition and that competition will increase the efficiency of the credit rating business. It will also help speed up the development of the Thai bond market, he said.
Concerning media reports about comments of a visiting officer of a foreign financial institution who said TRIS's rating process is too slow and its analysts are insufficiently skilled, TRIS's President said that TRIS's rating process generally takes six to eight weeks, which is the same as international CRAs. He said continuous staff development and improving work speed have always been important focuses for TRIS. Delays are sometimes unavoidable, he said, but the problems do not come from TRIS. Some clients are not registered companies with the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Generally, their information is not complete. This takes more time for them to gather information for TRIS. Some clients change their financial advisors during the rating process. This also causes delays as the new advisors and TRIS's analysts need time to coordinate efforts. Many new clients do not understand the rating process and approach TRIS in a rush. This effects their information preparation process. Dr. Warapatr cited the case of a foreign financial advisor to one of TRIS's client that has not yet provided basic client information to TRIS's analist eventhough the client signed the rating contract with TRIS almost four months ago.
Concerning the skill of TRIS's analysts, Dr. Warapatr said that TRIS has a recruitement system that seeks out the highest qualified staff, especially the analysts. "We select only analysts who have at least 5-years experience in analysis and hold M.B.A. or master's degrees in related fields. Many of our senior analysts have CFA and CPA certificates and seven to 10 years of work experience with international financial institutions in investment and credit fields," he said.
TRIS's President said TRIS is well aware of the need for timeliness in rating analysis and works hard to avoid delays. "However, we need cooperation from new clients and financial advisors to contact TRIS early enough to understand our rating process so that they can provide basic information to us in a timely manner. This is one important way to help us avoid the problem of delays," Dr. Warapatr said.