Realize competitive advantages by a rating
Our management consultancy supports medium-sized businesses with corporate rating consulting, rating preparation and attendance during the rating process by credit institutions or investors. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of the own company prematurely our strategy consulting offers medium-sized businesses to make a self-rating with us.

Rating as financing opportunity
In a rating, a bank or a rating agency decide on the creditworthiness and reliability respectively of a company. The basis for the decision is quantitative and qualitative company information as well as environmental factors and experienced data for the industry. The rating and thus the assessment of the creditworthiness of a company is the basis for the credit terms of a company – the rate of the interest loan, the credit volume and the credit period. By means of Basel II and in the future Basel III, the requirements for banks rewarding credits to companies have been reset. The changes in the regulation, which banks have to pass on to their customers, result in new chances for a favorable funding or risks for a bad funding. We work with you on realizing the financing terms of your company as an opportunity even with Basel II and in the future Basel III.

Our corporate finance consultants for medium-sized businesses provide the following rating consulting services:

• Implementing a self-rating
• Preparing the rating
• Selecting the relevant rating information
• Providing the rating documents and documentation
• Attending the entire rating process
• Establishing a regular financial communication
• Testing and changing the corporate strategy, business and finance plans, risk management, business process optimization and IT strategy
• Integrating the value-based corporate management into the corporate strategy, marketing strategy and the business process management

Test factors of a corporate rating
All corporate ratings differ depending on the implementing credit institution or rating agency, but generally, they all check the same rating criteria – more or less detailed. The rating factors include:

• Quantitative factors
  Assessment of the economic business situation with the help of the net asset position, the financial situation, the profit situation, the capital structure and the development of the balance and the profit commission statement. Control of the balance ratios and the equity ratio.
• Qualitative factors
  Corporate strategy, management, organization and business process organization, potential of the employees, accounting and risk controlling, customers and suppliers
• Experienced factors and environmental factors
  Credit history with the bank (Have past credit agreements been met with regard to time and amount?), market development and industry development, local conditions

Full service rating supervision
Our management consultancy for corporate financing supports you in conceiving Basel II and III as opportunity for your company. We know the detailed requirements of Basel II and Basel regarding granting loans of banks and thus the requirements that are passed on to companies. We help you in positioning your company correctly and in communicating the relevant company information to your bank correctly. We develop the business plan demanded by banks which especially deals with the economic situation, the operational risk of your company that is linked to the process management, the marketing strategy and the opportunities and risks of the future.

New possibilities of fund-raising by means of rating
Our strategy consulting positions your company not only in a way that will make credits in the future not necessarily expensive for you, but also in a way that you are able to use new possibilities of fund-raising apart from the common bank credit. By this, we will increase the competitiveness of your company independently from Basel II.

What is Basel II?
By now, Basel II is an expatiated buzz word which causes insecurity in companies. This should not be the case, because there often is a lack of detailed knowledge on Basel II and its effects. Basel II describes the redevelopment of the regulatory rules and regulations regarding equity for credit institutions by the Basel banking committee which have been implemented step by step from January 1, 2006 to 2008. Basel III is an extension of the regulatory rules and regulations regarding equity which were necessary because of the experiences with Basel II and the findings from the global financial crisis and economic crisis respectively.

Why does Basel II affect companies?
This question often arises: “Rules and regulations regarding equity for banks, why am I as an entrepreneur affected?” Implementing the guidelines of Basel II does have a direct effect only on credit institutions. But the effects of this regulation affects all companies insofar as the calculation base for their credits and thus for their corporate financing changes.

What changed for companies because of Basel II?
The basis for calculating business credits changed since Basel II requires a more differentiated economic risk management from banks. Banks have to estimate the risks of a credit and thus the reliability of a debtor stronger than before by means of different parameters. In the context of an internal or external rating, the reliability – the credit risk – of single debtors is calculated.

Rating and Basel II
The rating is the basis for granting a credit and the terms of the credit. Simplified, one can point out companies with a high reliability get better credit terms than companies with a very low reliability. The rating thus makes new demand on the information transparency towards banks. Here, both the ratios regarding the profit situation, the net asset position and the financial situation and the communication of the future strategy with business plan and the process organization within the company are important. The requirements of Basel II thus exceed an exclusive concentration on depicting good financial figures of the past.