S&P Updates Global Credit Portal

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has announced new analytics capabilities for publicly-financed securities investors, with an upgrade to its Global Credit Portal platform.

Financial Statement Data and S&P Indices have been added to the platform, riding alongside Ratings Direct Public Finances in a single interface set-up. S&P claims this will allow market participants to more effectively analyze the creditworthiness of debt securities issued by institutions such as state and local governments, public authorities, and government-owned facilities.

"With state and local governments still feeling the strain of the weakened economy, investors need to scrutinize publicly-financed debt more carefully than ever," says Sonia Kim, managing director, S&P Valuation and Risk Strategies. "It is not enough just to look at a rating; investors need access to fast data that lets them compare a municipality's debt relative to its peers and market benchmarks. The S&P Global Credit Portal is the only source to deliver that level of analysis in a single package."

CreditStats Direct Public Finance will allow users access to financial statement data for "over 10,000 key public finance issuers, including Health Care, Municipal/County, States, and School Districts," with opportunities for side-by-side comparisons of data and export functions. S&P Indices allows a number of comparisons between S&P data and municipal bonds, consumer credit default rates and the residential real estate market, while full access is given to S&P's Ratings services research.