I would disagree in part. I have seen some larger companies, listed on the bigger boards get downgraded due to past managemnt issues, even though that management was no longer with the comapny. Specifically about 5-10 years ago when a bunch of committing officials from every sector of publically traded companies got nailed for backdating stock options. The SECOND came down very hard when they finally discovered what was going on, and downlisted certain companies until they "fixed their books" even though they were solid companies.