Key Takeaways
- • EquiLend and Credit Benchmark have integrated consensus credit ratings directly into EquiLend's Onboard+ counterparty onboarding platform, effective June 2026, enabling real-time credit context during fund and counterparty workflow decisions.
- • Credit Benchmark's consensus ratings, derived from internal credit risk assessments contributed by 40+ leading global financial institutions (nearly half of which are GSIBs), now surface alongside existing onboarding data fields, including contributor count for each rating.
- • Over 90% of entities with Credit Benchmark consensus ratings lack official agency ratings, positioning this integration as a critical reference point for operations, credit, and front-office teams evaluating counterparties where traditional agency coverage is unavailable.
- • The partnership enables institutional investors and banks to benchmark their internal credit views against market consensus without leaving the Onboard+ platform, streamlining onboarding efficiency and improving decision quality across the securities finance industry.
- • Onboard+ is positioned as a standard reference platform for counterparty workflow in securities finance, with this integration accelerating adoption of consensus credit data among the largest banks and asset managers globally.
Summary
EquiLend and Credit Benchmark announced a strategic partnership integrating Credit Benchmark's consensus credit ratings into EquiLend's Onboard+ platform, a core workflow system for securities finance operations. The integration, available as of the June 2026 release, embeds Credit Benchmark's consensus ratings alongside existing counterparty onboarding data, enabling operations, credit, and front-office teams to access market-wide credit perspectives at the point of decision-making.
The integration surfaces multiple data points for each fund, including the consensus rating itself and the number of contributing institutions behind that rating. This design addresses a significant market gap: Credit Benchmark reports that over 90% of entities with consensus ratings lack official agency ratings, making this embedded data particularly valuable for evaluating unrated counterparties and funds. By displaying this context directly within Onboard+, the partnership enables EquiLend clients to assess where their internal credit views align with or diverge from broader market sentiment without switching platforms.
Credit Benchmark's consensus ratings are built on contributed internal credit risk assessments from 40+ leading global financial institutions, including major GSIBs domiciled across the US, Europe, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. According to Mark Faulkner, Co-Founder of Credit Benchmark, embedding this data into Onboard+ accelerates adoption and enhances day-to-day onboarding decisions by bringing institutional credit perspective directly into the workflow. The integration positions Onboard+ as an increasingly comprehensive reference platform for securities finance operations, where counterparty and fund decisions can be made with enhanced market context without leaving the system.
For institutional investors, hedge funds, and asset managers, this partnership streamlines counterparty onboarding by reducing the need to cross-reference external credit data sources. The integration enables more efficient prioritization of onboarding decisions and provides a transparent mechanism to evaluate internal ratings against market consensus, particularly critical in the securities finance market where speed and precision in counterparty assessment directly impact operational risk management.
The integration surfaces multiple data points for each fund, including the consensus rating itself and the number of contributing institutions behind that rating. This design addresses a significant market gap: Credit Benchmark reports that over 90% of entities with consensus ratings lack official agency ratings, making this embedded data particularly valuable for evaluating unrated counterparties and funds. By displaying this context directly within Onboard+, the partnership enables EquiLend clients to assess where their internal credit views align with or diverge from broader market sentiment without switching platforms.
Credit Benchmark's consensus ratings are built on contributed internal credit risk assessments from 40+ leading global financial institutions, including major GSIBs domiciled across the US, Europe, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. According to Mark Faulkner, Co-Founder of Credit Benchmark, embedding this data into Onboard+ accelerates adoption and enhances day-to-day onboarding decisions by bringing institutional credit perspective directly into the workflow. The integration positions Onboard+ as an increasingly comprehensive reference platform for securities finance operations, where counterparty and fund decisions can be made with enhanced market context without leaving the system.
For institutional investors, hedge funds, and asset managers, this partnership streamlines counterparty onboarding by reducing the need to cross-reference external credit data sources. The integration enables more efficient prioritization of onboarding decisions and provides a transparent mechanism to evaluate internal ratings against market consensus, particularly critical in the securities finance market where speed and precision in counterparty assessment directly impact operational risk management.
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