Interview: KBRA

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Insights from Monroe Sheridan: KBRA’s Japan Strategy from Its Tokyo Base

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), a comprehensive credit rating agency, opened a new office in Tokyo in January 2025 as a key milestone in its global expansion. We spoke with Ms. Miki Monroe Sheridan, Head of Business Development at KBRA, about the reasons behind choosing Tokyo as its first office in the Asia-Pacific region and the company’s future outlook. (Please see the English version here (external link).)
Interviewee: Miki Monroe Sheridan (Head of Business Development, KBRA)

What is KBRA’s mission?

KBRA is a credit rating agency established in the wake of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Our mission is to provide reliable ratings and restore confidence in the credit rating industry. Currently, we have issued over 80,000 ratings worldwide, representing a total value exceeding $3 trillion.
While traditional rating agencies tend to adopt siloed approaches, KBRA prioritizes flexibility and has established a cross-sector team structure where structured finance analysts and corporate analysts collaborate. This structure enables us to respond quickly to new and complex products.

What are the key differences and strengths compared to other rating agencies?

The Japanese market already has the so-called “Big Three” rating agencies and two domestic rating agencies. KBRA’s strength lies in its deep expertise in private credit, structured finance, and complex financial products.
We have been
rating fund finance transactions from the very beginning, and that experience has earned us a strong reputation in the industry. Fund ratings in the private credit sector, in particular, are currently one of our most in-demand services.

Please tell us about the background behind KBRA’s expansion into Japan.

The Tokyo office will be KBRA’s first location in the Asia-Pacific region. Starting with our headquarters in New York, we have established offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Chicago within the United States, and have steadily expanded our global presence with the addition of Dublin in 2017 and London in 2019.
As we expanded into Asia, we received particularly strong interest and high expectations from Japanese investors. Amid growing demand for ratings in the expanding private credit market, Japan emerged as a natural and promising choice for our Asia-Pacific hub.

Please tell us about your team structure and recruitment policy in Japan.

We are hiring analysts to fully launch our rating operations in Japan. The Financial Services Agency also places great importance on conducting ratings for Japanese issuers domestically, and we are building our organization in line with that priority.

Mr. Monroe, what prompted you to return to Japan in your own career?

I spent many years working on structured products and sales for foreign bonds at securities firms in Europe and the United States, and I also managed the Japan desk in New York.

Later, I returned to Tokyo and met KBRA while working to expand the bond team at Jefferies. At the time, the company had not yet entered the Japanese market, but I was deeply impressed by their commitment to providing prompt and thorough service, even for complex and innovative products.
I began to feel that the international perspective and insights I had cultivated through these overseas encounters and experiences could be put to good use in the Japanese market as well.

Could you tell us about the characteristics of the Japanese market and how it compares to other Asian countries?

Japanese investors are known for being extremely cautious and conducting meticulous risk analysis; they possess a strong sense of responsibility and excellent in-house research capabilities. At the same time, due to regulatory requirements, the role played by credit rating agencies is becoming increasingly important.
When expanding into the Asia-Pacific region, we considered other potential locations such as Hong Kong and Singapore, but ultimately chose Japan.
In addition to the reliability
and stability of the established regulatory environment, the fact that many KBRA members had an affinity for Japanese culture was also a factor in our decision.

What were the main hurdles to entry, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenges in entering the Japanese market were regulatory compliance and the language barrier.
Unlike in South Korea or Taiwan
, obtaining a license in Japan requires a physical presence (establishing an office) in the country, so we had to make upfront investments in infrastructure from the early stages. That said, we believe that obtaining a license in Japan will further strengthen our credibility and presence throughout Asia.
Regarding language, while many investors are flexible about communicating in English, Japanese is essential for daily operations and ongoing collaboration.
For this
reason, KBRA publishes key reports in Japanese and is currently working on launching a Japanese-language website to further deepen our localization efforts.

In what ways do you feel FinCity.Tokyo’s support has been helpful?

FinCity.Tokyo provided us with significant support from the very early stages when we began considering our entry into the Japanese market. Specifically, in addition to introducing us to potential clients and industry stakeholders, they greatly supported our launch by assisting with participation in relevant conferences.Furthermore, given our small startup team, their introduction to a suitable recruitment agency to help us secure personnel capable of dealing with the Financial Services Agency was a source of great reassurance for us. Additionally, their guidance in finding office space in an area where many other financial institutions are concentrated was extremely beneficial from a networking perspective.

Is there anything you would like to see from the support providers?

Yes. For example, we first learned about the existence of subsidy programs through FinCity.Tokyo. For companies requiring significant initial investment, understanding these programs early on enables more accurate decision-making.
That said
, the subsidy application process involves a heavy burden of paperwork, and the reality is that this presents a high practical hurdle for companies launching with a small team. We would feel even more reassured if we could receive more practical support for these operational aspects in the future.
Additionally, for overseas companies considering entering the Japanese market, I believe it would be extremely helpful to have a step-by-step guide outlining the necessary documents, procedural flow, timelines, costs, and personnel requirements.

How does KBRA plan to grow in Tokyo as an international financial hub?

For several years now, KBRA has been strategically building a framework to provide a wide range of services to clients in global markets, including the U.S., Europe, and Asia. We believe that by building trust with global investors, we will create an environment where other issuers will find it easier to choose KBRA’s ratings.

In the Japanese market, the number of rating agencies is limited, and evaluation methods tend to be rigid. Against this backdrop, KBRA aims to present flexible and innovative analytical perspectives.Through our ratings, we aim to expand opportunities for Japanese investors to access European and American financial products that were previously difficult to access, as well as complex and sophisticated structured products that are challenging to evaluate. In the future, the financial industry is expected to see the emergence of products that are even more complex and innovative than before. We believe KBRA’s mission is to support Tokyo’s growth as an international financial hub by responding flexibly to these developments while maintaining high standards and conducting accurate risk assessments.

*As of August 2025, KBRA Japan is in the process of applying for registration as a credit rating agency under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.