20 years ago my father ran a small business and routinely relied on D&B reports to provide insight into the creditworthiness of unknown suppliers or customers.

20 years ago my father ran a small business and routinely relied on D&B reports to provide insight into the creditworthiness of unknown suppliers or customers. Of course investors and larger institutions use Standard & Poors and Moody's to provide credit ratings and background histories on public companies and their stocks and bonds.