Title
Regulation fair disclosure's effect on the information content of bond rating changes
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
European Financial Management
Publication Date
9-1-2013
Volume
19
Issue
4
First Page
775
Last Page
800
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Keywords
regulation fair disclosure, bond rating agency, information asymmetry, information disclosure, bond rating changes, credit rating
Abstract
The SEC implemented Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) in 2000. Reg FD requires firms to release material information to everyone simultaneously, thereby reducing information asymmetry between favoured stock analysts and others. Bond rating agencies were exempt from Reg FD in order to continue receiving the private firm information necessary for accurate credit default assessments. The exemption, if valuable to the bond market, should have resulted in an increase in the relative importance of bond rating changes on bond yield premia when Reg FD was implemented. In the first empirical study on the impact of Reg FD on the bond markets, we explore this hypothesis by measuring bond yield premia reactions to bond rating changes around the implementation of Reg FD. For downgrades, we find the impact of Reg FD is related to firm size. The smallest firms experienced a significantly weaker bond yield premia response. The evidence for the relevance of Reg FD for upgrades is weak. Contrary to concerns from the Bond Market Association, it appears Reg FD lessened the impact of downgrades on the smallest firms, and did not affect speculative-grade bonds or bonds with higher debt levels.
DOI
10.1111/j.1468-036X.2011.00612.x
Print ISSN
13547798
E-ISSN
1468036X
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Poon, W. P. H., & Evans, D. A. (2013). Regulation fair disclosure's effect on the information content of bond rating changes. European Financial Management, 19(4), 775-800. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2011.00612.x
