MOSCOW, July 24 (UPI) -- The Central Bank of Russia is planning a new rating agency, which is expected to start work during the fourth quarter of 2015.
"The Russian market needs a strong rating agency with a high level of corporate governance and professional competence," the bank said in a statement.
CBR said its initial capital would be about 3 billion rubles ($51 million).
"Credit rating agencies are one of the most important elements of the financial market infrastructure. These activities must be stable to various factors, including geopolitical risks," the bank said in its statement.
Ekaterina Trofimova, vice president of the major Russian state-owned bank Gazprombank, will head the new rating agency. She will also stay on with Gazprombank.
S&P and Moody's Investors Service cut Russia below investment grade following the country's slump in oil prices and sanctions imposed by the West in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Rating companies have faced increased regulation after a U.S. Senate panel found they were providing inflated grades for risky mortgage bonds. The five leaders who met at the BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia, earlier this month discussed creating their own credit assessor.
Russia and China planned to launch a new Universal Credit Rating Group (UCRG) in 2015, but Kremlin media said market participants talks have stumbled due to political reasons.
