Crosbie quits Moody’s KMV

Peter Crosbie, head of California-based credit risk management company KMV before it was taken over by rating agency Moody’s for $210 million in April last year, has left the combined business, Moody’s KMV. His replacement, Douglas Woodham – a long-standing Moody’s employee – led the rating agency’s team during the KMV acquisition.

Moody’s was keen to point out the harmonious nature of its purchase last year, highlighting that Crosbie would become president and chief executive of Moody’s KMV and KMV founders Andrew McQuown and Oldrich Vasicek would continue working at the company.

It is unclear exactly why Crosbie quit, with Moody’s obliquely stating his departure was to allow him “to pursue other opportunities”. Calls to long-standing KMV employees in California were passed on to Moody’s press office in New York.

But Moody’s president and chief executive John Rutherford said in a statement that Crosbie had “successfully managed” the integration of KMV with Moody’s Risk Management Services and “surpassed” the financial objectives established for Moody’s KMV last year.

Woodham, an ex McKinsey consultant, was made Moody’s senior vice-president in charge of strategy, corporate development and technology in October 2001. He will continue holding these responsibilities in addition to running Moody’s KMV, as Moody’s expects much of its expansion outside its core ratings business to lie in the area of quantitatively orientated investment products and services, according to Rutherford.

At the time of the takeover, KMV was expected to make revenues of $60 million for 2002 and have a 10% pre-tax cashflow margin.