Rating Agency To Post Grades On Web

A subscriber-based agency whose ratings are to be accepted by the Federal Reserve for its program to boost the commercial mortgage bond market will post its ratings on existing bonds publicly.

Realpoint LLC is one of five rating agencies named by the Fed whose evaluation of older commercial mortgage-backed securities will count for eligibility in the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF.

Unlike the other four rating agencies on the list -- Moody's Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, DBRS Inc. and Standard & Poor's -- Realpoint is not paid by the issuer of the bonds. Instead, its clients, mostly institutional investors, sign up for its service so the ratings and analysis are not available to anyone but its subscribers.

Now that the Fed has said that starting in July it will accept the super-senior or top-rated portions of existing commercial mortgage bonds in its TALF program, Realpoint will make its ratings on these older bonds available on its Web site.