Ratings of banks and financial companies are essentially Accurat's opinion on the types of risks that affect the relative ability of banks, finance companies and insurance companies to meet their financial obligations in a timely manner. This process includes reviewing and highlighting the economic and financial services sectors as well as the changing regulatory environment. Banking classifications apply to all deposit-taking financial institutions that provide financial services as their primary line of business, that carry out banking operations, and that supervise financial intermediaries (with the exception of multilateral development banks, which are usually unregulated). In fact, the banking classification applies to financial institutions, investment banks, financial institutions specialized in depositing deposits, and multilateral development banks (knowing that external support factors are treated in a specific way). This approach is applied in its standard form to a commercial bank that accepts deposits and some modifications are made to take into account the special situation of finance companies.