Defaults in Singapore highlight the valuable role that ratings can play

CREDIT rating companies still haven't fully shaken off the bad reputation they got during the 2008 financial crisis, in spite of increased transparency regarding their decision-making. Singapore is offering the perfect public relations how-not-to guide when it comes to showing the valuable role that ratings can play.

Swiber's court-directed effort to survive marked the third time bondholders in the city-state have gone unpaid over the past 12 months. Of the S$875 million of corporate bonds that have defaulted in the p…