S&P to shift more analytical jobs to India

MUMBAI: An increasing number of rating statements by Standard & Poor���s will have a Mumbai dateline as the company moves more of its analytical jobs to India. S&P, which already carries out some ratings work for the Asean region out of Mumbai, would move more work to the city as business picks up, Deven Sharma, president, S&P���s, told ET.

���After we acquired a controlling stake in Crisil in 2005, S&P has built a very good external outsourcing business in terms of equity research and other capital market related analytical and knowledge processing outsourcing business,��� Mr Sharma said. He added that S&P has moved some of its cross-border ratings team from Singapore to Mumbai.

Although, S&P owns Crisil, it has a separate ratings business in India under S&P which caters to the international market. In addition to this, there is an offshoring team in Crisil that supports the rest of the world analytical processes for S&P. According to Mr Sharma, Crisil���s business has grown five times since the acquisition.

Commenting on Crisil���s former chairman and S&P���s regional head R Ravimohan���s recent exit, Mr Sharma said: ���He has really done wonders for Crisil and has created regional scale but he had a great opportunity. I am relieved and happy that Roopa Kudva (MD & CEO Crisil) is here.��� Despite its ownership, S&P plans to retain the Crisil brand name here. ���Crisil has a great brand recognition and it works well and we have already rebranded it as an S&P company. There is an S&P unit which is a separate legal entity which does ratings out of Mumbai.���

S&P, which has come under criticism for not identifying problems with mortgage securities, is restructuring its processes to link analyst compensation to rating performance. ���There is a general desire to link fee payments to ratings performance. This is measured by the default level and in the transition time ��� how fast the rating moves from the original rating category,��� Mr Sharma said.