JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. (JCR-VIS) is approved by Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan and State Bank of Pakistan, JCR-VIS is operating as a “Full Service” rating agency providing independent rating services in Pakistan. JCR-VIS is a joint venture between Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR) - Japan's premier rating agency, Vital Information Services (Pvt.) Limited (VIS) – Pakistan’s only data bank and financial research organization, Karachi Stock Exchange and Islamabad Stock Exchange.
In January 2001 JCR and VIS entered into a Joint Venture Agreement whereby JCR acquired 15% share in DCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. of Pakistan. As a result of this agreement, the name of the company changed from DCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. to JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. (JCR-VIS). The DCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. was incorporated in 1997 as a joint venture between VIS, Karachi Stock Exchange, Islamabad Stock Exchange and Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (DCR). Subsequent to DCR’s merger with Fitch IBCA, DCR sold its interests in DCR-VIS to VIS.
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JCR was established in April 1985 by a group of major Japanese institutional investors and was authorized by Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) as a recognized rating agency in 1987. JCR’s rating services cover broad range of financial products including long-term bonds, senior debts, medium-term notes, and commercial paper for resident and non-resident entities, and multilateral development banks. In addition, JCR rates ability to pay insurance claims for the Japanese life and casualty insurance companies as well as structured financing for both residents and non-residents including asset-backed securities.
JCR enjoys a strong support from Japan’s prominent institutional investors. The 109 shareholders include Japan’s major life and casualty insurance companies, all trust banks, 60 of 64 regional banks, The Norinchukin Bank and The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.
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Vital Information Services (Pvt.) Limited (VIS) was incorporated in 1994 with the equity participation of leading financial institutions, the largest publication house of Pakistan (The Jang Group), Mr. Faheem Ahmad and other professionals. The company provides independent capital market research based services to companies, small and large investors, etc.
VIS’ major strength is its exhaustive database on corporate Pakistan and ability to perform statistical and financial analyses on this database. VIS has a major interest in a credit bureau - NEWS-VIS Credit Information Services (Pvt.) Ltd. and Digital Works, the first digital archiving service bureau of Pakistan.
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The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is the premier stock exchange of the country. KSE came into existence in 1947. In 1949, KSE was converted into a company limited by guarantee. Initially, five companies were listed on the KSE with a paid up capital of Rs. 37 million. Today, there are 762 listed companies with a listed capital of Rs. 234.45 billion and an approximate market capitalization of Rs. 400 billion.
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The Islamic International Rating Agency has been incorporated in Bahrain in 2002 to carry out rating operations principally in Islamic countries. Its shareholders include Islamic Development Bank and 14 other banks and financial institutions from around the Muslim world.
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Credit Rating Information And Services Limited (CRISL) is a joint venture company between Bangladesh, JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited of Pakistan and Rating Agency Malaysia Berhad (RAM) of Malaysia. The initiative to setup a rating company in Bangladesh was taken as far back as March 1997, by a group of professionals of Bangladesh with the assistance of JCR-VIS of Pakistan. Prime Commercial Bank of Pakistan also contributed in equity of CRISL. In June 2002, the Government of Bangladesh granted the sole license for credit ratings in the country to CRISL.
In December 2002 CRISL announced its maiden credit ratings in Bangladesh. JCR-VIS is providing necessary technical support to CRISL and Mr. Faheem Ahmad, President & CEO, JCR-VIS, is also represented in the rating committee as approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Bangladesh.
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JCR-VIS has been pre-approved as a rating agency by MFI Rating Fund for ratings of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.The MFI Rating Fund seeks to improve the quality, reliability and availability of information on the risk and performance of MFIs by helping MFIs to obtain independent rating and assessment services by professional rating agencies and specialized funds by providing partial funding for these services to the MFIs. The MFI Rating Fund is managed by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

CGAP is a consortium of 29 bilateral and multilateral donor agencies that support microfinance. It is managed by the World Bank and in addition to the World Bank; its donor agencies include the United Nations Development Program, the Department for International Development and the Asian Development Bank.

IDB, the oldest and the largest regional multilateral development institution, was established in December 1959 to help accelerate economic and social development in the Latin American and the Caribbean regions.
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