In reaction to a report released by Wright Ratings which said that many Wisconsin banks were at risk of serious financial difficulty or failure, Curt Bauer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers’ Association released the following statement:
“The public and media should not place any credibility in ratings of federally insured depository institutions prepared by private companies. The only accurate ratings for financial institutions are issued by government regulatory agencies, and they are not made public out of fear that they could unnecessarily alarm depositors.
“The private company ratings use arbitrary and often simplistic formulas based solely on information that is publicly available, which provides a narrow snapshot rather than a complete picture of the institution in question.
“The ratings may also be influenced by the business interests of whoever is calculating them. That is why these ratings are flawed and misleading at best, and dangerous and irresponsible at worst.”
