Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poors are credit rating agencies that exist to assess the likelihood that organisations issuing debt that's sold on public markets (ie. organisations issuing bonds or their derivatives) will pay those debts back fully and on time. The issuer of the debt and the debt itself are both issued ratings indicating their creditworthiness. Issuers can include corporates (companies), sovereigns (national governments), local governments, or charities. A triple A (AAA) rating is assigned to the safest debt, which will almost certainly be repaid. The least safe debt is issued a CCC rating or below, indicating that it's in danger of default.

Credit ratings agencies employ armies of information analysts to assess the creditworthiness of debt issuers. Junior roles in information services are typically focused on gathering and analysing data, while senior analysts will have more responsibility for interpreting data and assigning the rating. Individuals with quantitative expertise who can create models that underpin the ratings process are required by credit ratings agencies. The need for sector specialists and people with an understanding of the effect of the macroeconomic climate on sovereign debt repayments depends on the type or organisation on the debt being rated.

Financial markets and the global media are supplied with critical real-time information such as company share prices, exchange rates, research and analytics, and tools and software for tracking portfolios by data providers. They also provide financial and business news services via a number of media channels. Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg are the dominating force in the data providing industry. There are also other, smaller, more information-specific companies such as Dealogic - which provides coverage of global capital markets, credit markets and mergers and acquisitions - or, for example, Initiative Europe - which provides information on private equity deals.

A variety of graduate information services roles, including for data analysts (analysing information on companies and industry sectors) and journalists (analysing and writing about breaking financial news) as well as jobs in technology (IT and software development) and business development (evaluation and development of the company) are available for data providers.

Both data providers and credit ratings agencies also provide an array of 'operational' jobs in accountancy, HR, IT and technical support among others.