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Documentation Index

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The Consensus Credit Rating (CCR) is Credit Benchmark’s core offering — a letter rating for a legal entity derived from a simple average of 1‑year through‑the‑cycle (TTC) Probability of Default (PD) estimates contributed by our network of banks. We map this Consensus PD to the Credit Benchmark 21‑category rating scale to produce the CCR shown across our products. CCR provides an independent view of credit risk based on the aggregated assessments of banks with skin in the game — actual lending relationships and real exposure to the entities they rate.

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Credit Benchmark’s CCR Process

1

Data Submission

We receive PD data from over 40 contributing banks worldwide. Each bank provides their 1-year forward-looking Probability of Default estimates linked to their internal rating systems.See the data submission process for details.
2

Data Validation

Contributed PDs pass through a comprehensive data validation process to ensure quality and consistency before entering the consensus.
3

PD Averaging

The CCR is calculated as a simple unweighted average of contributed PDs — a consensus opinion of the default risk of the counterparty.Consensus PD=1N∑i=1NPDi\text{Consensus PD} = \frac{1}{N} \sum_{i=1}^{N} PD_iWhere:
  • PDiPD_i = PD estimate from bank ii
  • NN = number of contributing banks (published as Contributor Count)
  • Publication requires N≥2N \ge 2
4

Rating Mapping

The Consensus PD is mapped to a letter rating using our Rating Scale lookup table:CCR=f(Consensus PD)\text{CCR} = f(\text{Consensus PD})Where f(PD)f(PD) converts PD values into CCR buckets using a standardised scale calibrated from banks’ internal rating systems.

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Use Cases

CCR complements internal and CRA ratings by providing an aggregated market view from multiple contributing institutions1:
  • Customer onboarding & credit decisioning — support credit decisions with independent, market-based risk assessments
  • Portfolio monitoring — track credit quality and identify emerging risks using Consensus PD views
  • Model development & calibration — validate and calibrate internal models against consensus benchmarks
  • Pricing & valuation — inform pricing decisions with independent credit perspectives reflecting current market sentiment
  • Regulatory & third-party risk validation — meet requirements for independent risk validation and third-party governance
  • Entity reference mapping — standardize entity identification and credit risk mapping across internal systems
1 Banks contributing to Credit Benchmark follow the Basel definition of Default.
Last modified on April 25, 2026