Moody’s Investors Service today announced the launch of Moody’s Enhanced Canadian Short-Term Rating Scale, providing increased credit quality differentiation to Moody’s Prime 1 and Prime 2 rating categories for Canadian issuers.

In conjunction with the announcement, these enhanced short-term ratings have been assigned to a group of 81 Canadian- domiciled companies and governments, as well as to non-Canadian-domiciled companies that issue into the Canadian money markets.

The new scale is being established in response to demand from all sides of the Canadian credit markets for increased refinement within Moody’s existing short-term rating scale. The key feature of this enhanced ratings scale is the introduction of five credit quality tiers within Moody’s existing Prime-1 and Prime-2 ratings categories, as follows: Prime 1(Aaa); Prime 1(Aa); Prime 1(A); Prime 2(A);Prime 2(Baa).

“The Canadian commercial paper market is a large and important market. The establishment of Moody’s Enhanced Canadian Short-Term Ratings Scale signals Moody’s continuing commitment to meeting the needs of Canadian investors, issuers, and intermediaries,” says Andrew Kriegler, Managing Director, Moody’s Canada Inc. “This new ratings scale will provide increased credit quality differentiation and thereby enhance the liquidity of the Canadian money markets.”