S&P Global Ratings is the world’s leading provider of independent credit ratings. Business & Finance speaks to David Gordon, Chief Compliance Officer, EMEA and Country Head, Ireland.
S&P Global Ratings is part of S&P Global, the world’s foremost provider of credit ratings,
David Gordon
benchmarks and analytics in the global capital and commodity markets.
“We rate more than $48 trillion of global debt, and have more than 1 million credit ratings outstanding on government, corporate, financial sector and structured finance entities and securities,” states David Gordon, Chief Compliance Officer, EMEA and Country Head, Ireland. “Our integrated offering of credit ratings, risk research and critical insights is essential to translating complexity into clarity so market participants can make decisions with conviction.”
In total S&P Global Ratings has over 7,000 employees around the world, and 1,400 analysts located across 28 countries, and produced a turnover of $2.9 billion in 2018.
New to Dublin
“We first arrived in Ireland on July 1st 2018 and moved into our new Company premises this January,” Mr Gordon says.
“We hosted a very successful opening ceremony in our new office in February this year, which was attended by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, TD and Martin Shanahan, IDA Ireland CEO,” he adds.
He points to a number of factors which influenced the company’s decision to locate in Ireland, including a talented resource pool, English language, connections to the rest of the European network and a well-established regulatory environment and Financial Services sector.
Talented workforce
The Dublin office is the headquarters of S&P Global Ratings’ European network. It has over 20 staff comprising employees who’ve transferred to Ireland from other offices, as well as local hires. “We are finding high quality talent locally as well attracting staff who are willing to relocate to a vibrant and growing market,” Mr Gordon says, noting that, Staff are somewhat surprised at the shortage of suitable property to stay and by the cost of renting, especially near the city centre.”
When it comes to Brexit, he says, “We were already looking to rationalise our presence in Europe around a new HQ. Brexit added extra impetus to our decision around the above factors. Now that the business has been established, we do not expect that Brexit will fundamentally change the business model moving forwards or affect our Irish presence.”
A future in Ireland
The process of setting up in Ireland was, he recalls, “Surprisingly easy, helped in large part by the support we received from the IDA and local legal and relocation assistance.”
Looking towards the company’s future plans in Ireland, Mr Gordon predicts, “We will consolidate our presence here around existing or moderately higher staff numbers and continue to serve the local market and the wider EU region with high quality ratings and incisive research. Ireland will also continue to be an important strategic hub from a governance perspective.”
