Beltone Financial Holding, a leading investment firm, considers setting up a credit rating company through its subsidiary Beltone Capital, sources have told Daily News Egypt. The sources said that the company has not yet applied for a license from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), and is still in the study and planning stage. The company has hired CRIF, a global provider of credit and business information systems, to supply it with the necessary credit systems. Earlier this week, Beltone Capital signed a framework agreement with CRIF for partnership in the fields of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, data science and technical analysis, credit scoring, and business databases in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The sources explained that the company has an ambitious investment plan across all sectors and activities in which it operates. It aims to complete its non-banking financial services portfolio, as well as enter new activities, especially monitoring developments and preparing the study to apply for a digital bank license from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) shortly. Last August, the FRA approved the criteria for comparing applications for obtaining a license to practice the activity of evaluating, rating, and ranking securities. According to an official statement from the FRA, the door will be opened for one new license for this activity, based on the needs of the capital market. The applications will be compared according to the attached standards to ensure greater assurance and transparency. Credit rating agencies play a vital role in securities markets. They help allocate capital efficiently to serve investment opportunities according to their return and risk. They evaluate and rate the quality of various securities traded in the financial markets.
