D (credit rating)

A credit rating given to a prospective borrower that's not of investment grade and implies the highest degree of risk, since the company in question has already defaulted on its debts.

For credit agencies Standard & Poor's and Fitch, it's the lowest credit rating that can be handed to a company. It's equivalent to the C rating provided by Moody's.

Where have you heard about D credit ratings?

Propping up the rest of the credit ratings table, bonds issued by companies with a D rating are known as junk bonds, due to their extreme risk and lack of popularity among investors.

What you need to know about D credit ratings.

The credit rating given to a company or government can impact on its ability to borrow money. Extremely high-risk ratings like D don't generally appeal to investors, especially when compared with investment-grade ones (BBB- or above).

D ratings are given to entities which are no longer able to fulfil all their debt commitments on time. A D rating may also be handed to a company if it's virtually certain that it will shortly default on its financial obligations.

Find out more about D credit ratings.

Bonds are rated from AAA all the way down to D. For more on how this works, see credit rating agency.