User:Reshma Polasa/sandbox

Acuité Ratings & Research Limited
Acuité Ratings & Research Limited is an institutionally promoted organisation with a combination of country's leading public & private sector banks along with a global data & analytics company as its shareholders.

Registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and accredited by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Acuité has assigned more than 7000 credit ratings (as on December 31 2018) to various securities, debt instruments and bank facilities of entities spread across industries in India.

For rating SMEs, Acuité has a separate division known as SMERA.

Additionally, Acuité conducts incisive research on various industries and Indian economy.

History
Acuité was founded in 2005 by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited (D&B) and several leading Govt., Public, Private and MNC banks in the country, as an initiative of Ministry of Finance (GOI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to facilitate credit rating of bank borrowers. Since a majority of bank borrowers are SMEs, Acuité chose to call themselves SME Rating Agency which was later rechristened to SMERA Ratings Limited as the products & services portfolio expanded organically over the period and included Bond Ratings, CP Ratings, Bank Loan Ratings, SME Ratings and various grading services.

SEBI, at the Board Meeting held on December 28, 2017, decided that rating agencies will have to segregate activities other than the rating of financial instruments and economic/ financial research to a separate legal entity. Meanwhile, the Company's Bond & Bank Loan Ratings business grew rapidly making it a significant player in the rating industry. These developments prompted the Company to demonstrate the transformation in its business by reinventing its brand identity and positioning. Acuité Ratings & Research will focus on providing Bond & Bank Loan Ratings, Economic Analysis and Financial Research services.

Achievements

 * 1) In 2005 the incorporation of SME Rating Agency of India was inaugurated by the Hon. Finance Minister.
 * 2) The Department for International Development, UK extended Technical Assistance grant under World Bank Project in the year 2006
 * 3) The Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) has awarded SIDBI with "Outstanding Development Project Award" for setting up SMERA. The award was given under the SME Development Category during the 30th ADFIAP Annual Meeting held on 10 May 2007 at Hanoi, Vietnam..
 * 4) The company had an eloquent mention in IFC's report in 2010, as a novel and sustainable initiative of the Govt. of India to increase credit flow to the MSME sector in India.
 * 5) In 2011 it got its initial registration with SEBI.
 * 6) The first bond rating was released in the year 2012. The company got an accreditation from RBI for rating bank loans. In the same year, Acuité completed 15,000 ratings. In 2013 it completed 20,000                                                                                 ratings and 30,000 ratings in 2014.
 * 7) Acuité rated their first commercial paper in 2015 and completed 2000 Bank Loan Ratings.
 * 8) In 2016, Acuité got permanent registration with SEBI and completed 40,000 ratings.
 * 9) SMERA Terminal - a fintech platform for connecting lenders and MSME's was launched in 2017 and it completed 50,000 ratings.
 * 10) In 2018, the company SMERA changed its name to Acuité. Also completing 5000 Bond & Bank Loan Ratings. Their RATINGSBUZZ App was launched in the same year.

Acuité in media

 * 1) India Credit Risk Summit - Acuité Ratings & Research organised the first edition of the India Credit Risk Summit on 11th February 2019 at The Regency Ballroom, Hyatt Regency, Delhi. Prof. Edward I Altman, Professor Emeritus of Finance at NYU, Stern School of Business, was the keynote speaker at the event.
 * 2) Sa-dhan National Conference 2018 (Delhi) - Acuité Ratings participated in the Sa-dhan National Conference 2018 held on September 19-20, 2018 in New Delhi.
 * 3) 15th Annual Capital Market Conference 2018 organized by FICCI - Acuité Ratings participated in the 15th Annual Capital Market Conference(CAPAM) organized by FICCI on Sept. 11, 2018. Acuité's President Ratings, Suman Chowdhury was a panelist in the session on "Turnaround of Stressed Assets."