Richard and his team of Regional and Group Credit Officers located in New York, London, Chicago, Bogota, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Milan, Monterrey, Paris, Singapore, and Stockholm, together act as a senior check and balance in the rating assignment process, providing additional perspectives and research to protect the quality of Fitch’s ratings, and support the wider Risk functions across the regulated ratings business. The Chief Credit Officer’s group is also responsible for thematic cross-sector credit market commentary, including the team behind the agency’s market-leading FitchWire reports. Richard was appointed to the role in July 2021. Previously, Richard served for four years as the Regional Credit Officer responsible for Europe and Asia, after heading the agency’s utility rating practice in New York. Most recently, Richard was the global head of Fitch’s corporate rating practice from 2013 to 2021, covering all non-financial corporates, including comprehensive coverage of investment-grade, leveraged finance, emerging market, and private debt markets. Before joining Fitch in 1996, he worked in credit roles in Frankfurt and London at the central liquidity institution for the German cooperative financial system.