The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry

This paper investigates whether more favorable stock recommendations and higher credit ratings serve as a reputational asset or reputational liability around reputation-damaging events. Analyzing the reputational effects of operational risk announcements incurred by financial institutions, we find t...

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Main Authors: Barakat, Ahmed, Ashby, Simon, Fenn, Paul
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48338/
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author Barakat, Ahmed
Ashby, Simon
Fenn, Paul
author_facet Barakat, Ahmed
Ashby, Simon
Fenn, Paul
author_sort Barakat, Ahmed
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper investigates whether more favorable stock recommendations and higher credit ratings serve as a reputational asset or reputational liability around reputation-damaging events. Analyzing the reputational effects of operational risk announcements incurred by financial institutions, we find that firms with a “Buy” stock recommendation or “Speculative Grade” credit rating are more likely to incur an equity-based reputational damage. In addition, firms with lower credit ratings incur a much more severe debt-based reputational damage. Moreover, credit ratings are more instrumental in mitigating the debt-based reputational damage caused by fraud incidents or incurred in non-banking activities. Furthermore, the misconduct of senior management could demolish the reputation of firms with less heterogeneous stock recommendations. Finally, credit ratings serve as an equity-based reputational asset in the short term but turn into an equity-based reputational liability in the long term. Overall, our analysis reveals that stock recommendations represent a reputational burden and credit ratings act as a reputational shield; however, the persistence and magnitude of such reputational effects are moderated by time and event characteristics.
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spelling nottingham-483382020-05-04T19:28:48Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48338/ The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry Barakat, Ahmed Ashby, Simon Fenn, Paul This paper investigates whether more favorable stock recommendations and higher credit ratings serve as a reputational asset or reputational liability around reputation-damaging events. Analyzing the reputational effects of operational risk announcements incurred by financial institutions, we find that firms with a “Buy” stock recommendation or “Speculative Grade” credit rating are more likely to incur an equity-based reputational damage. In addition, firms with lower credit ratings incur a much more severe debt-based reputational damage. Moreover, credit ratings are more instrumental in mitigating the debt-based reputational damage caused by fraud incidents or incurred in non-banking activities. Furthermore, the misconduct of senior management could demolish the reputation of firms with less heterogeneous stock recommendations. Finally, credit ratings serve as an equity-based reputational asset in the short term but turn into an equity-based reputational liability in the long term. Overall, our analysis reveals that stock recommendations represent a reputational burden and credit ratings act as a reputational shield; however, the persistence and magnitude of such reputational effects are moderated by time and event characteristics. Elsevier 2018-01-31 Article PeerReviewed Barakat, Ahmed, Ashby, Simon and Fenn, Paul (2018) The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry. International Review of Financial Analysis, 55 . pp. 1-22. ISSN 1057-5219 Reputational risk; Operational risk; Financial analysts; Stock recommendations; Credit ratings; Financial institutions https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2017.10.011 doi:10.1016/j.irfa.2017.10.011 doi:10.1016/j.irfa.2017.10.011
spellingShingle Reputational risk; Operational risk; Financial analysts; Stock recommendations; Credit ratings; Financial institutions
Barakat, Ahmed
Ashby, Simon
Fenn, Paul
The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title_full The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title_fullStr The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title_full_unstemmed The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title_short The reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
title_sort reputational effects of analysts' stock recommendations and credit ratings: evidence from operational risk announcements in the financial industry
topic Reputational risk; Operational risk; Financial analysts; Stock recommendations; Credit ratings; Financial institutions
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48338/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48338/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48338/