Fitch Ratings Inc. is a credit rating agency and a subsidiary of Fitch Group, which is owned by Hearst Corporation. Fitch Ratings is headquartered in New York City and London. The company was founded by John Knowles Fitch on December 24, 1913 in New York City as the Fitch Publishing Company. It merged with London-based IBCA Limited in December 1997. In 2000 Fitch acquired both Chicago-based Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (April) and Thomson BankWatch (December). Fitch Ratings is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975, together with Moody's and Standard & Poor's.