Regulating Credit Rating Agencies

This highly topical book examines how the leading credit rating agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - have risen to prominence in the wake of the financial crisis.It investigates how the Big Three have become ever more profitable even though the quality of their ratings has declined and rating scandals have tarnished their reputation. After a century of being left quasi-unregulated the rating industry is now subject to sweeping reforms. This informative study analyzes the post-crisis overhaul in the United States and the European Union. The focus lies on the interactions between regulatory intervention and competitive incentives among the Big Three. This book highlights the challenges faced by policymakers trying to regulate the rating industry and simultaneously decrease over-reliance on ratings. Regulating Credit Rating Agencies will appeal to academics in law and economics, practitioners, policymakers, lawmakers and regulators. Contents: Foreword Part I: Prelude to the Credit Rating Industry 1. Introduction 2. History of Credit Rating Agencies 3. Description of the Credit Rating Industry Part II: Regulatory Structure 4. Rating-based Regulations 5. Regulatory Treatment of Credit Rating Agencies 6. Regulatory Trends Part III: Uses and Abuses of Credit Ratings in Structured Finance 7. Growth of the Structured Finance Segment 8. Wrong Incentives in the Credit Rating Industry 9. Regulatory Response to the Problems of Structured Finance Ratings Part IV: System-wide Effects of Credit Rating Downgrades 10. System-relevance of Credit Ratings 11. Market Reactions to Credit Rating Downgrades and their Consequences 12. Regulatory Response to the Systemic Issue Part V: Trends and Outlook 13. Restoring Competition in the Credit Rating Industry 14. Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index