Dominion Bond Rating Service launched its sovereign rating operations today with the release of its sovereign rating methodology.

The rating agency expects to establish coverage on 15 countries over the next two years. DBRS says its sovereign initiative will primarily focus on countries whose major industries are those in which it already has a track record of analytical expertise.

“This is an important development for global fixed income investors,” says Eric Beauchemin, DBRS managing director, “because we are offering investors, especially those who invest in emerging debt markets, much-needed fresh insight in today’s more dynamic global markets.”

David Roberts, chief economist and head of the DBRS Sovereign team, points out, “Globalization has transformed the financial markets. Yet the traditional ways of evaluating a sovereign’s rating and its impact on a corporate’s credit in the country haven’t always kept up with the changing fundamentals of sovereign credit risks.”

“DBRS is committed to offering investors consistent and, we think, more realistic assessments of sovereign ratings and country risks for corporates based on sound, fundamental credit analysis,” adds Roberts.

Roberts joined DBRS from Bank of America, where he was the international economist. He was also managing director of Sovereign Ratings at Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. and, before that, vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.