Raymond W. McDaniel Jr.

Raymond Whitehead McDaniel, Jr. (born January 5, 1958) is an American financial executive. He is chairman of Moody's Corporation, the parent company of Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics.

Education McDaniel earned a B.A. in political science from Colgate University, and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law. In 1984 McDaniel was admitted to the New York State Bar.

Career

Moody's Corporation McDaniel joined Moody's Investors Service in New York in 1987 as an analyst in Asset Securitization. He also held the roles of managing director for Moody's Europe in London and managing director for international operations, which designs and manages regional expansion in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Between 2007 and 2009, Moody's and other credit rating agencies were the subject of criticism for their ratings of subprime mortgage backed securities. McDaniel testified regarding the ratings at U.S. congressional hearings on multiple occasions, where he stated he was "deeply disappointed with the performance of ratings associated with the housing sector."

In 2010, McDaniel was the subject of some media scrutiny due to sales of company stock prior to a drop in Moody's share value, and coincident with the company's receipt of a Wells notice from the SEC. Although some observers expressed skepticism about McDaniel's actions amid the timing of the stock sales, Moody's stated that McDaniel's sales had been part of a pre-arranged plan under SEC Rule 10b5-1.

At the Milken Institute Global Conference in May 2011, McDaniel cautioned against using ratings in a "mechanistic" way, where changes in rating automatically produce market effects. He had previously advised that investors should use ratings as a tool rather than a specific market strategy, in testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in 2010. He has endorsed rules and regulations that increase market transparency and quality of ratings, as long as they do not interfere with the independence of ratings content produced by private agencies.

Other positions held McDaniel joined the board of directors of the Council for Economic Education (then the National Council on Economic Education) in 2003, and has helped expand its workshops in New York City public schools. In September 2005, he joined the board of directors of the global publishing company John Wiley & Sons. McDaniel has appeared as a speaker at the Milken Institute Global Conference in 2011 and 2012.