NEW YORK, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announced that Don Howard has been named Chief Risk Officer, effective today. Based in New York, Mr. Howard will report to Douglas Peterson, President of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, and serve on the firm's Executive Committee.

In his new role, Mr. Howard will oversee groups in Risk Management, Compliance, Criteria, and Quality. These teams will identify and manage risks across S&P as well as enable the efficient and effective governance of these risks. Mr. Howard will also be responsible for administering programs for global compliance with laws, regulations and internal policies that govern all of S&P's business activities.

"Don is one of the finest risk managers in the financial services sector," said Mr. Peterson. "During the course of his career, Don has focused on many of the most important aspects of risk management including credit, market and regulatory risk; mergers and acquisitions, and model validation. His experience working with and at large global financial institutions will bring S&P valuable perspective as we operate in today's complex environment."

"I'm excited to join a company whose mission is dedicated to measuring risk," said Mr. Howard. "S&P is an ideal place for me to leverage my experience and contribute to the firm's culture of risk measurement and management."

Mr. Howard has been working in financial services for more than 25 years and has developed expertise in credit and regulatory risk, mergers and acquisitions, and model validation. Previously, he was Managing Director at Promontory Financial Group, LLC, where he was responsible for client relationships in the firm's Banking and Insurance Practices. Over the past three years, Mr. Howard has assessed the effectiveness of risk and control functions at some of the largest and most complex global banks. Before that, he was a Group Chief Risk Officer at HSBC in London where he led the bank's international risk management team. He also held risk senior management positions at Metlife and Bank of America and as a bank examiner at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

Mr. Howard received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from Boston College and holds a Master of Economics, Money, Banking, and Finance from Northeastern University, and did post-graduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

About Standard & Poor's Ratings Services

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's leading provider of independent credit risk research and benchmarks. We publish more than a million credit ratings on debt issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector entities. With over 1,400 credit analysts in 23 countries, and more than 150 years' experience of assessing credit risk, we offer a unique combination of global coverage and local insight. Our research and opinions about relative credit risk provide market participants with information and independent benchmarks that help to support the growth of transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide.

SOURCE Standard & Poor's Ratings Services