Representatives from major international financiers are currently in București, with S&P Global Ratings expected to arrive soon. However, S&P was not the first entity to wield significant power in assessing financial risk. The story centers on Lewis Tappan, a New York textile merchant, whose business collapsed following the Panic of 1837. Tappan subsequently pioneered a system for evaluating creditworthiness, offering reports to merchants detailing the financial stability of potential debtors. His reports significantly impacted trade and lending decisions in New York and beyond. Though less known today, Tappan’s work predates modern credit rating agencies like Moody’s and S&P, effectively establishing him as a pioneer in the field of credit risk assessment. His system, born from personal financial hardship, laid the groundwork for the now-ubiquitous practice of credit ratings.