What is a Credit Rating?
Vietnam Investors Service’s rating system is developed and tailored to address the needs of the fast-growing emerging debt market in Vietnam.
Our rating approach incorporates learnings and developments in global capital markets, and addresses market needs for clarity around the components of credit risk and finer distinctions in rating classifications.
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Ranking of issuers by likelihood of default and loss given default |
Opinion on credit risk and not of other critical investment criteria |
Comparable within and across industries |
Targeting rating accuracy and stability |
Refer to our Working Process for Analysts and Operational Regulation of Credit Rating Council here
Rating Scale
Long-Term Rating scale
Opinion of the relative creditworthiness of issuers or debt instruments with an original maturity of one year or more within Vietnam.
| AAA | Issuers or debt instruments rated AAA demonstrate the strongest creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| AA | Issuers or debt instruments rated AA demonstrate very strong creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| A | Issuers or debt instruments rated A demonstrate above-average creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| BBB | Issuers or debt instruments rated BBB demonstrate average creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| BB | Issuers or debt instruments rated BB demonstrate below-average creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| B | Issuers or debt instruments rated B demonstrate weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions and may be approaching default, with strong recovery prospects. |
| CCC | Issuers or debt instruments rated CCC demonstrate very weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions and are likely in or near default, typically with moderate recovery prospects. |
| CC | Issuers or debt instruments rated CC demonstrate extremely weak creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions and are typically in default, typically with poor recovery prospects. |
| C | Issuers or debt instruments rated C demonstrate the weakest creditworthiness relative to other domestic entities and transactions and are typically in default, with very poor recovery prospects. |
Note: Vietnam Investors Service appends the modifiers + and – to each generic rating classification from AA through CCC. The modifier + indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; no modifier indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier – indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
Short-Term Rating scale
Opinion of the ability of issuers in Vietnam, relative to other domestic issuers, to repay their debt obligations that have an original maturity not exceeding 13 months.
| A-1 | Issuers rated A-1 have the strongest ability to repay short-term senior unsecured debt obligations relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| A-2 | Issuers rated A-2 have an above-average ability to repay short-term senior unsecured debt obligations relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| B-1 | Issuers rated B-1 have an average ability to repay short-term senior unsecured debt obligations relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| B-2 | Issuers rated B-2 have a weak ability to repay short-term senior unsecured debt obligations relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
| C-1 | Issuers rated C-1 have the weakest ability to repay short-term senior unsecured debt obligations relative to other domestic entities and transactions. |
For more details, refer to our Rating Symbols and Definitions
Methodologies
Credit rating methodologies form the basis of credit analysis and opinions. Our rating approach incorporates learnings and developments in global capital markets, and addresses market needs for clarity around the components of credit risk and finer distinctions in rating classifications.
| Methodologies | Download | View |
| Non-Financial Corporates Rating Methodology |  |
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| Financial Institutions Rating Methodology | |
The Rating Process
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Analytical team is assigned Commercial team finalizes the execution of rating engagement with Issuer. |
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Issuer shares company information with analytical team Analytical team and Issuer discusses information requirements for rating engagement. Issuer prepares to share company information with analytical team. |
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Management meeting with analytical team Issuer’s management team meets with the analytical team to present the company information and discuss the materials. This phase may be accelerated in some situations with tighter financing schedules. |
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Analytical team commences analysis and goes to rating council Analytical team commences analysis and convenes rating council to assign credit ratings to the Issuer. The rating council is a key part of Vietnam Investors Service’s analytical process and helps to ensure the integrity and consistency of ratings. It reviews, votes and assigns the rating. After the rating council, a post-council call is held with the Issuer to notify and explain the ratings prior to public release. |
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Ratings and rationale delivered Analytical team delivers the assigned ratings and the ratings rationale to the Issuer through a rating announcement press release. The issuer reviews the draft press release. The ratings are then delivered through a press release available on https://visrating.com. |
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Ongoing monitoring As part of the ongoing monitoring of all assigned credit ratings to the Issuer, the analytical team maintains constant dialogue with Issuer management team and surveillance of the Issuer. Regular meetings between Issuer management team and analytical team, information updates are required to ensure credit ratings assigned to the Issuer remain timely and relevant. |