Get technical to fix rating agencies
Five years after the onset of the subprime crisis, the rating agencies still control the fixed-income market, Arturo Cifuentes says
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Market turmoil in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis has again raised questions about the accuracy of agencies’ ratings and conflicts of interest
Regulators eye how to curb ‘ratings shopping’
Securities and Exchange Commission to debate whether wider disclosure would cut the risk of credit agencies giving inflated grades to risky securities
Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s settle US subprime lawsuits
Trial would have tested integrity of pre-financial crisis ratings
S&P asks court to throw out $5bn lawsuit
Agency says DoJ case based on flawed theories
Scope Ratings aims to shake-up hegemony
Agency set to take a less formulaic approach
Gulf states bemoan lack of top-grade ratings
Saudis and Qataris demand higher status
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Comment and Analysis
Finance holds fast to tooth fairy faith
The childhood belief in magical payments in return for discarded teeth appears to linger in financial circles, writes Gary Silverman
Rating agencies must beware of the law
Free speech is no defence for fraud and nor should it be if an agency lowers its standards to please issuers and gain revenues, writes John Gapper
Moody’s: cowed by legal threat
Despite soaring revenues, the rating agency faces uncertainty over fears it could be next after justice department issued lawsuit against S&P
Ratings from credit crisis haunt agencies
The DoJ lawsuit is a reminder of mistakes but not a threat to the agencies’ business model, which is being bolstered by a boom in bond issuance
Are S&P and EU headed for eurozone reconciliation?
When previously doom-and-gloom rating agencies begin to sound positive, it’s worth taking note, writes Peter Spiegel
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Moody’s CPDO saga
Moody’s to investigate staff over rating bug
Moody’s, the credit rating agency, said it was beginning disciplinary proceedings against some of its staff as it admitted it had incorrectly rated about $1bn of complex debt securities due to a computer error
CPDO saga highlights Moody's woes
When bankers at groups such as ABN Amro first dreamed up the concept of constant proportion debt obligations almost two years ago, many analysts regarded the idea as the epitome of a credit bubble gone mad
