"The 2008 financial crisis focused attention on the credit rating agencies and their impact on financial markets. At the time, there was very little regulation of the agencies in Europe. In 2011, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was created to register, monitor and supervise them. This report examines whether ESMA has successfully established itself as the credit rating agencies watchdog for the EU. We conclude that while ESMA has laid down good foundations, its rules and guidelines are not yet complete and significant risks remain to be addressed in the future."--Publisher's description.

Rating agencies judge how solvent banks and big companies are. Prior to the financial crisis they were too optimistic when rating the risk of the banks and this prompted politicians worldwide to issue new regulations. This book explains what rating agencies do, why they are so important for the economy and the new European Regulation.

The global crisis revealed that credit rating agencies (CRAs) are capable of bringing about potential distortions in the financial sector, thereby resulting in a reduction in market confidence which, in turn, influences negotiations and expectations. CRAs need to be held accountable for lack of transparency and inaccurate ratings, however the existing regulatory framework does not secure adequate investor protection. This book provides a new and important contribution to research in the area, at a crucial time in the debate around financial regulation and investment regimes.

The 2008 financial crisis focused attention on the credit rating agencies and their impact on financial markets. At the time, there was very little regulation of the agencies in Europe. In 2011, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was created to register, monitor and supervise them. This report examines whether ESMA has successfully established itself as the credit rating agencies watchdog for the EU. We conclude that while ESMA has laid down good foundations, its rules and guidelines are not yet complete and significant risks remain to be addressed in the future.--

øŠAline Darbellay analyzes the obvious system relevance of credit rating agencies in depth and assesses the possible options for regulatory responses to this systemic issue. Thereby, the book is based on a fruitful comparative legal approach and formul

The book examines the role of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the subprime mortgage crisis. The CRAs are blamed for awarding risky securities ‘3-A’ investment grade status and then failing to downgrade them quickly enough when circumstances changed, which led to investors suffering substantial losses. The causes identified by the regulators for the gatekeeper failure were conflicts of interest (as the issuers of these securities pay for the ratings); lack of competition (as the Big Three CRAs have dominated the market share); and lack of regulation for CRAs. The book examines how the regulators, both in the US and EU, have sought to address these problems by introducing soft law self-regulation in accordance with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions Code and hard law statutory regulation, such as that found in the “Reform Act” and “Dodd-Frank Act” in the US and similar provisions in the EU. The highly topical book examines these provisions in detail by using a doctrinal black-letter law method to assess the success of the regulators in redressing the problems identified. It also examines the US case law regulation relating to the legal liability of CRAs. The book examines whether the regulations introduced have had a deterrent effect on the actions of CRAs, whether investors are compensated for their losses, and how the regulators have dealt with the issues of conflicts of interest and an anti-competitive environment. Should liability be introduced for CRAs through changes in the law so as to compel them to issue reliable ratings and solve the current problems? The book seeks to simplify the complex issues involved and is backed by concrete evidence; as such, it will appeal to both the well-informed and the lay general public who are interested in learning more about the role of CRAs in the sub-prime mortgage crisis and regulators’ attempts to remedy the situation. Novice readers can familiarise themselves with the legal and financial terminology used by referring to the glossary at the end of the book.

This paper examines the spillover effects of sovereign rating news on European financial markets during the period 2007-2010. Our main finding is that sovereign rating downgrades have statistically and economically significant spillover effects both across countries and financial markets. The sign and magnitude of the spillover effects depend both on the type of announcements, the source country experiencing the downgrade and the rating agency from which the announcements originates. However, we also find evidence that downgrades to near speculative grade ratings for relatively large economies such as Greece have a systematic spillover effects across Euro zone countries. Rating-based triggers used in banking regulation, CDS contracts, and investment mandates may help explain these results.