rating agencies

Regulators in the G20 want to reduce the role of credit rating agencies in determining how much capital reserves banks must set aside.

Still, the point of bond rating agencies is to do research on securities that other investors may not know well.

The role of rating agencies will also come under scrutiny, bringing to the fore the question of who rates the rating agencies?

But in such cases the rating agencies were just following the markets, which had already turned on these problem debtors.

Despite the collapse of the deficit talks, credit rating agencies did not signal any intention to lower their ratings for US debt.

Rating agencies have been criticised for not downgrading debt sufficiently in the run-up to the financial crisis.

The Bank of Korea has stepped up its 24-hr monitoring of the financial markets to measure investors' and credit rating agencies' movements.

But the speed with which loans have soured in recent months, and the reaction of rating agencies, have been startling.

Keen to restore securitisation's credibility, Wall Street's main trade groups, too, want the TALF opened up to smaller rating agencies.

That protracted debate incurred the displeasure of rating agencies already alarmed at the long-term consequences of high federal borrowing.

Governments are trying to govern, but the rating agencies still rule.

Finally, the rating agencies have the point of view of moneylenders rather than economists or equity investors or citizens.

'The behavior of the rating agencies is entirely pro-cyclical, ' he said.

The main credit rating agencies say they are reviewing the U. S. government debt situation for a potential downgrade.

If the rating agencies are using the word you just used (default), it is not part of my vocabulary.

Beyond the scope for conflicts of interest, however, there are also concerns that the rating agencies are simply out of their depth.

Much will depend on how the rating agencies judge the latest efforts by the prime minister, Brian Cowen, to stabilise the public finances.

But in recent days, debt rating agencies warned any attempt to get bondholders to participate would represent a selective default.

Sterling and gilt-edged government bonds strengthened a bit; the credit-rating agencies expressed renewed confidence.

Rating agencies systematically underestimated default risk on vast amounts of debt, resulting in puffed-up prices and a surfeit of issuance.

There are many questions an enterprising United States senator might want to ask the credit-rating agencies.

Access to the bond market remained more restrictive and is conditional on investment-grade rating by the recognized credit rating agencies.

is shaky in the short term, and its rating could be lowered by rating agencies, its credit foundation has not changed, yet.

Credit rating agencies have been among the whipping boys of the financial crisis.

The other question is whether the rating agencies are up to the task.

And rating agencies and regulators consider preferred stock a less permanent and therefore inferior form of capital to common equity.

Its budget deficit is so big it has led to warnings from the credit-rating agencies, in spite of the dollar's reserve currency status.

Posner argues, without providing evidence, that the "limitations of the credit-rating agencies were well known to professional investors. "

"If the rating agencies believe this is going to be business as usual, they are very wrong, " one Commission official said.

When assessing a country's real debt situation, rating agencies usually use a concept known as "general government" debt.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also indicated plans to rein in the power of the credit rating agencies.

The rating agencies are not likely to be impressed by this weekend's drama, and rightly so.

It is one of the few microlenders rated by international credit-rating agencies, which has allowed it to issue bonds.

As one of the causes, the international credit rating agencies have been criticized a lot.

But credit-rating agencies are no doubt working on that question even now.

But a short-term deal, which is not popular with credit rating agencies, could divide Republicans who disagree over the proposal.

Given the rating agencies' mandate is to inform investors of credit risks, it's hard to imagine a more colossal failure.

This often led to serious underestimation, especially by rating agencies, of correlation among these components.

The rating agencies' dim view of German assets over the past few years, based on the poor economy, was a further incentive to look west.

Rating agencies do not claim to be the sole voice expressing reasoned views about the future.

An effective solution to the ratings problem would make the profits that rating agencies earn depend on how the bonds they rate perform.

One of the multiple rating agencies reduced our rating from AAA to -- plus -- come down one notch.

The government bonds of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain were all downgraded a notch by credit-rating agencies.

Given the scale of the US's public sector deficit, few could argue with the idea that rating agencies may soon have to start downgrading.

Rather than standing back and observing this from the sidelines, the rating agencies got involved in structuring these products.

Recently, several credit rating agencies formally announced they were evaluating a possible downgrade.

Unfortunately, the government would be as poor a rater of rating agencies as it would be of securities.

In recent years, it has been hard to feel sympathy for the rating agencies.

Even without jokes about the rating agencies' performance during the great US structured debt debacle, the answer should plainly be "no" .

These are important omissions, especially that of the rating agencies, which should worry about what a judge may say.

If the rating agencies have been careful not to sound the alarm, the same is true of Italy's politicians.

the establishment of a professional animation rating agencies.

Clever people, abetted by the rating agencies, set out to pass off poor credit as AAA, because they stood to make a lot of money.

Investment banks on Wall Street answered this demand with the MBS and CDO, which were assigned safe ratings by the credit rating agencies.

Sixteen years consecutive credit rating agencies have been assessed as "AAA" grade credit enterprise.

"Perhaps the credit-rating agencies are being responsible, " an Italian economist suggests by way of explanation.

Rating agencies say that the number of defaults is the lowest for almost a decade.

Some rating agencies mutter that Belgium's debt could be downgraded if the deadlock is not resolved.

Esoteric securities backed by these mortgages were grossly mis-valued by the computer models of big banks and credit rating agencies.

At what point, some financial analysts ask, do rating agencies downgrade the United States?

Ironically, discredited rating agencies might even damage trust in hitherto creditworthy governments.

The proposed legislation could also make it difficult for new or small rating agencies to enter the market.

Credit rating agencies could create this contingent compensation scheme by putting a meaningful portion of their fees into escrow.

nor is it any surprise that it (like other rating agencies) did not change its stance on US companies.

Rating agencies would blindly downgrade governments that participated and this would inevitably intensify the debt crisis.

The rating agencies were, without a doubt, an important contributing factor to the credit bubble.

But the problem with credit-rating agencies lies in the tension between their business model and their use as a regulatory tool.

Similarly, the rating agencies relied on the information provided by the originators of synthetic products.

Even as the rating agencies busily revise rich countries' creditworthiness downwards, Indonesia's has been going the other way.

Rating agencies have long assessed banks' creditworthiness in part on the likelihood of government support should they get into trouble.

The deal closed in April 2007; by the end of January 2008, 99% of the portfolio had been downgraded by credit-rating agencies.

"LIKE vampires in the dead of the night" , rating agencies "will outlast us all" , said Bill Gross of PIMCO, a fund manager, this month.

They blame the financial crisis, regulators, politicians, finance companies and credit rating agencies.

To be sure, rating agencies are catching up with the market's pessimistic view.

Greece, Spain and Portugal have already suffered debt downgrades by the rating agencies; Ireland may follow.

The credit-rating agencies were widely attacked for failing to warn of the risks posed by mortgage-backed securities.

In theory those who bought risk could rely on the opinions of the rating agencies and buy protection against default.

Politicians talk of consigning "too big to fail" to history, but investors and rating agencies regard it as alive and kicking.

Credit rating agencies have fallen out of favour with top investors.

IF THE past decade's financial over-engineering was a crime, rating agencies were the getaway drivers.

They duly singled out hedge funds, credit rating agencies, tax havens and executive compensation for tighter regulation.

Credit rating agencies have been quick to downgrade and opine about several sovereigns .

Currently, rating agencies face the same liability standards as accountants and securities analysts.

Rating agencies were supposed to serve the market, but their first loyalty seems to have been to the issuers who were paying their fees.

Develop standardized credit services and rating agencies, promoting in good order new products of credit services.

Eighth, eliminate conflict of interest in the business models of rating agencies.

Moody's and Standard & Poor's, two credit-rating agencies, put the firm on their watch lists for potential downgrades.

More broadly, the rating agencies have never given us any reason to take their judgments about national solvency seriously.

Buffett defended rating agencies, saying "In that case they made a mistake that virtually everybody in the country made. "

AAA, top rating for bonds of the highest quality awarded by the main rating agencies: Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch IBCA.

Then, in December, some of the sector's top rating agencies, including Guidestar and Charity Navigator, agreed that a new measure is needed.

He also says an SEC-appointed consultant-for-the-day should select credit-rating agencies on behalf of debt issuers.

Those securities obtaining cash first received investment-grade ratings from rating agencies.

And rating agencies are watching pension reform for evidence of political will to get a grip.

The agency oversees everything from mutual funds to credit rating agencies but has seen its budget decline or stay flat in recent years.

The role of credit rating agencies will also need to be rethought, with greater public scrutiny.

Investors across the world look to credit rating agencies to judge where to place their bets in the market.

Add in political sensitivities, and it is no surprise that European regulators are eyeing the credit rating agencies.

The same fate has befallen the big three credit rating agencies, whose deeply flawed ratings were exposed when the US housing bubble burst.

Then I further studied the problems of rating agencies and monitoring and punishment mechanism in credit rating system.

If banks and rating agencies got this wrong, what else must be brought into question?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a strong lever that it can use to regulate the rating agencies.

The credit-rating agencies have recently downgraded Greek sovereign debt still further, from junk to junkier.

It requires lenders to retain some risk, while recipients must do due diligence on loans by limiting the role of rating agencies.

Credit rating agencies, fund-raising system is an important element.

Yet, under the gaze of the rating agencies, he has not given up his efforts to curb the budget deficit and improve competitiveness.

We will exercise strong oversight over credit rating agencies, consistent with the agreed and strengthened international code of conduct.

Finally, policymakers need to reconsider the privileged position and funding of the rating agencies.

They have had orders on the various desks of Wall St. to buy any US debt rated "AAA" by the rating agencies in the US.

Rating agencies' belated tightening of their methodologies has made this gap even harder to close.

WHEN the subprime crisis broke in 2007, credit-rating agencies were among the first groups to take the blame.

In theory, credit rating agencies are useful to investors without in-house capacity to analyse exotic or opaque bonds.

Insurers are already being threatened with downgrades by rating agencies for the terrorism cover they have sold.

Investment bankers on Wall Street and rating agencies suffered from similar infirmities.

Credit rating agencies must do extensive research to produce reliable ratings.

Greek debt is rated junk by all three major rating agencies. All other euro zone countries have investment grades only.

Companies are keen to maintain a large cushion, as rating agencies are closely watching cash balances as credit markets tighten.

CREDIT-RATING agencies are notorious for announcing with great fanfare what has been obvious to financial markets for months.

He noted that neither his parent organization, Moody's, nor Fitch, the other of the three major rating agencies, have downgraded U. S. debt.

Credit rating agencies cut their ratings yesterday on Ford's unsecured debt, already deep in junk territory.

Everybody hates the rating agencies and no one hates them more than the Europeans.

Q19 Why are the International Monetary Fund and credit rating agencies interested in our fiscal situation and budget strategy?

The last, as usual, were the credit rating agencies.

The reaction of the big credit-rating agencies was prompt and instructive.

The rating agencies that gave CDOs such absurdly high ratings, though not named in the ABACUS case, should also worry.

Credit-rating agencies quickly downgraded all government-related debt.

" I do hope that it does not take another Enron for everyone to look at the issue of rating agencies, " he says .

The leaders promised to keep closer watch over banks, hedge funds, credit rating agencies and executive pay.

Europe has become an international credit rating agencies take turns "against" the object.

Rating agencies have put Hungary's debt close to junk status.

At some banks, risk managers who questioned the rating agencies' models were given short shrift.

Rating agencies badly misjudged default rates in subprime mortgages and are now having to downgrade reams of securities linked to them.

So why has Italy been hit by sudden mistrust, expressed in words by rating agencies and in deeds by the markets?

Particularly important is a change in payment of rating agencies.

It is foolish to put blind faith in credit rating agencies.

What, moreover, can reasonably be expected of the rating agencies?

Its targets were selected by the intelligence of three rating agencies.

They put full faith in the ability of rating agencies to draw up risk assessments for instruments that were new.

The legislation takes some steps to tighten legal standards on the credit-rating agencies.

Credit rating agencies are now recognizing that investments based on subprime home loans are risker (riskier) than investors have thought.

Business Model IssuesQuestions have been raised about what is the "right" business model for credit rating agencies .

Every crisis begets finger-pointing, and the blame now isfalling on the rating agencies that helped structure these exotic instruments.

The rating agencies recently laid out two important vulnerabilities that might lead them to mark it down.

Tighter regulation for credit rating agencies, to prevent conflicts of interest.

Europe is losing a war between its elected governments and unelected rating agencies.

At present, a number of rating agencies, the Fund will be published monthly ratings.

Not to delegate risk management to rating agencies.

Like in the previous debt bubbles, rating agencies behave like momentum traders.

Governments would govern rather than rating agencies rule.

But as the rating agencies have now discovered, fraud played a part too.

Is the issuer-pays compensation model still viable for credit rating agencies?

What about the credit-rating agencies, and the measurement of risk for regulatory purposes more generally?

Credit rating agencies are now recognizing that investments based on subprime home loans are riskier than investors have thought.

He was doing supremely well, managing about $80 million, with terrific grades from the rating agencies.

Bond markets were unconvinced. So were the rating agencies: Fitch and S&P cut Greece's grade again, from A- to BBB .

The retreat of the credit tide left more than the rating agencies swimming naked.

Mr Haldane notes that rating agencies value government support for banks.

It calls credit-rating agencies "cogs in the wheel of financial destruction. "

The Feasibility of Introducing Rating Agencies?

Issuers of securities pay the rating agencies to estimate the risk for investors.

Italian prosecutors even raided the offices of rating agencies.

It should drop the fatuous targeting of pay, shadow banking and rating agencies.

As in the west, credit rating agencies assign ratings to bonds and bond underwriters set prices based on investor feedback.

As a result regulators and credit-rating agencies promised to avoid knee-jerk reactions to mark-to-market losses.

It is firmly in the consensus of the US Treasury, major investors and rating agencies.

What would have happened to the rating agencies if they had properly done their jobs?

Those (such as the rating agencies) that needed to do more nearly all took a fatal shortcut.

They take rating agencies seriously. They play by the rules.

Rating agencies are often paid by issuers.

Nevertheless, there is speculation the leading credit rating agencies may lower America's rating below triple A.

We should reform the rating agencies so as to break up the oligopolistic market position of Moody's and Standard &Poors.

There would be no reason for the rating agencies to act.

Credit rating agencies are warning about the debts of Portugal and Spain and others may follow.

SIMON: And please remind us what these credit rating agencies do, and why they have such influence.

Credit rating agencies are now recognizerecognizing that investments based on subprime home loans, are riskier than investors have thought.

Prof Partnoy concurs: "Wall Street rarely finds someone smart at credit rating agencies, but when they do they hire them. "

THE rating agencies did not have a good debt crisis.

The rating agencies are rushing to catch up with this grim reality.

What about the shabby performance of the rating agencies?

More reassuringly, Moody's, S&P and Fitch, the three major credit-rating agencies, all said France's rating was stable.

Rating agencies, for instance, are told about pending deals so they can be ready with upgrades or downgrades when the announcement comes.

The leaderspromisepromised to keep closer watch over banks, hegehedge funds, credit rating agencies and executive pay.

The recent failures of credit rating agencies are now well known.

The issuers of CDOs asked rating agencies to assess their quality.

We should strengthen supervision and regulation over credit rating agencies, the shadow banking system and trans-border capital flows.

Credit rating agencies are also keeping an eye on Toyota's brand image.

First, though: the problems with S& P and the other credit-rating agencies.

In the words of one banker, they "empowered rating agencies beyond their wildest dreams" .

What about a third-party board, such as what Sen. Al Franken has proposed, that would separate rating agencies from issuers?

Risk rating agencies as well as NGOs also use them.

It is the same with rating agencies, the whipping boys of the crisis.

Rating agencies may use generous assumptions or models that are biased towards an outcome that is profitable to the agency.

In addition, to make the bonds saleable, rating agencies were appointed to adjudge their creditworthiness.

The plan is thin. It wants better regulation of the rating agencies. Who doesn't?

And a congressional committee held a hearing on credit rating agencies and their part in the financial crisis.

The same thought has occurred to the rating agencies.

The credit-rating agencies, for instance.

One such argument is that the various bond-rating agencies' ratings were inaccurate.

So why should the rating agencies be downgrading France and not Britain?

There are also the important opinions of the rating agencies.

Rather than undertake their own analysis, they relied on the rating agencies to do the essential work of risk analysis for them.

The rating agencies never repented; and now they are masters again.

It is ironic that credit rating agencies still retain such power.

Most ABS receive the highest rating -- triple-A -- from the major credit rating agencies.

For example, last Friday, one of the three major credit rating agencies downgraded long-term United States government debt.

Rating agencies have also picked up on the danger.

A U. S. panel concluded the financial crisis 'could not have happened without the rating agencies. '

Credit rating agencies downgraded A. I. G.

The second is the rating agencies, the new arbiters of credit risk.

Take it however it comes. No need to panic and ignore the rating agencies.

In traditional products such as corporate debt, rating agencies employ basic credit analysis and judgment.

The new rules will bring things such as credit derivatives and credit-rating agencies into the regulatory net.

But rating agencies do not have a brilliant track record with new, relatively untested products such as emissions credits.

There are problems with rating agencies.

07 were "AAA level that the People's Bank of corporate credit rating agencies . "

Yet the rating agencies didn't so much as blink.

Where were the rating agencies -- why is it they react after the event?

As these ugly trends emerged last year, the markets and credit-rating agencies put Britain on notice.

This is not a crisis of a small country at the edge of the euro zone. Nor is this a crisis brought on by rating agencies or speculators.

For example, the credit rating agencies, which rated Abacus 2007-AC1 triple A, were not named as defendants.

It is easy and appropriate to blame the rating agencies for lapses in their credit judgments.

Perhaps we should turn around and look at rating agencies and say what the devil are you doing?

Credit rating agencies; Rating shopping; Reputation constraints; Tracking rating;

Credit rating agencies recognised by the Monetary Authority under the profits tax concession scheme

with the intention of misleading or co-opting rating agencies;

Role given to independent rating agencies

The travails of the rating agencies

Myths About Credit Rating Agencies

(For related reading, see Bond Rating Agencies: Can You Trust Them? )

Hearing on Credit Rating Agencies and the

l Allianz Group has a global assessment of credit rating agencies such as Standard;

They can be boiled down to three: first, the rating agencies have a long list of howlers;

The Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia,