Fitch Ratings plans to hire a chief accountant to overview structured trades, corporate ratings and act as an internal resource for the agency. "Derivatives will be a major part of this, but it could be any area of accounting for corporates and structured transactions," said Ian Linnell, head of credit policy in London.
Linnell said the rating agency hired Joseph St. Denis, an assistant chief accountant in the enforcement division of the Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, last year to take a similar role in New York.