Roman Kräussl obtained a first class honours Masters in Economics with a specialization in Financial Econometrics at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, in 1998. He completed his Ph.D. on the Role of Credit Rating Agencies in International Financial Markets at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, in 2002. As the Head of Quantitative Research at Cognitrend GmbH, he was closely involved with the financial industry. Currently he is Assistant Professor of Finance at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and research fellow with the Center for Financial Studies, Frankfurt/Main.