First, the obvious problem: Rating agencies make their living by selling ratings to borrowers.
This was one of the reasons the credit rating agencies began their recent spate of downgrades.
Credit rating agencies are considering downgrades of BNP Paribas and two other major French banks.
European governments, U.S. rating agencies, and Congressional votes all seem to cause major market swings.
The big rating agencies consider this outfit to be at the low end of investment grade.
Some rating agencies mutter that Belgium's debt could be downgraded if the deadlock is not resolved.
There were also fears that the rating agencies might downgrade Enron's debt despite the Dynegy deal.
Today, those investors like to blame the banks and the rating agencies for their roles.
World leaders agreed in 2009 that, because of the crisis, rating agencies should be directly supervised.
The rating agencies say they were never supposed to substitute for investors' own due diligence.
The credit rating agencies reviewed tens of thousands of issues twice a year at best.
An unfortunate side effect of this perception change is the reaction by the credit rating agencies.
Over the weekend, the Obama administration did its best to discredit the rating agencies.
Credit rating agencies have contributed a fair share of the reason we had a financial crisis.
Was this administration actively sending credit agencies, the rating agencies, information about possibilities for an agreement?
Barnier had hoped that by banning rating agencies he could restore faith in problematic European countries.
Rating agencies argue that they manage this difficulty by barring analysts from involvement in fee negotiations.
It has been revealed that the rating agencies were paid by the companies they rated.
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However, not everyone agrees that the rating agencies' verdicts are the best barometer of economic health.
He also says an SEC-appointed consultant-for-the-day should select credit-rating agencies on behalf of debt issuers.
The rating agencies like the states to keep a balance of at least 5% of spending.
They think they have more information than the rating agencies about those to whom they lend.
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Rating agencies are gun-shy about any new security, given their roles in the subprime mortgage crisis.
Credit-rating agencies are likely to downgrade firms that face litigation, increasing the cost of financing.
It is for this reason that western credit-rating agencies are reviewing their attitude towards China.
CDOs, and the rating agencies that gave them their initial high ratings, are feeling defensive.
It seems unlikely that the Chinese or the bond rating agencies would like that very much, though.
The solution that Congress adopted for credit-rating agencies in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law has two elements.
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In fact, though, Congress has already produced a solution, albeit directed at different market actors: credit-rating agencies.
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To make matters worse, the major bond rating agencies downgraded their U.S. treasury debt outlook to negative.
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