rating category
as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of…, Article 3(1), point (h) (Definitions)
a rating symbol, such as a letter or numerical symbol which might be accompanied by appending identifying characters, used in a credit rating to provide a relative measure of risk to distinguish the different risk characteristics of the types of rated entities, issuers and financial instruments or other assets