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http://v3.moodys.com/researchandratings/methodology/003006001/rating-methodologies/methodology/003006001/4294966628/4294966848/0/0/-/0/rr  Moodys rating methodologies
 
October Act


Failures
  * Stronger than the Administration's Plan on Rating Agencies. The Accountability and Transparency in Rating Agencies Act expands on the initial credit rating agency legislation proposed by the Administration in that it:


Enron November 2001 Orange County California, Mercury Finance, Pacific Gas & Electric, Enron, WorldCom, Delphi, General Motors and Ford.
    * Creates Accountability by Imposing Liability. The bill enhances the accountability of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) by clarifying the ability of individuals to sue NRSROs. The bill also clarifies that the limitation on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or any State not to regulate the substance of credit ratings or ratings methodologies does not afford a defense against civil anti-fraud actions.  


A former Director of Moodys has attributed their conduct to a drive to retain market share in face of attempts by the major banks to play eacc agency off against the others - a tactic knows as ratings shopping<ref>[http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Hearings/Committee_on_Oversight/Fons_Testimony.pdf Jerome S. Fons: testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 22, 2008]</ref>
    * Duty to Supervise. The bill adds a new duty to supervise an NRSRO's employees and authorizes the SEC to sanction supervisors for failing to do so.  


    * Independent Board of Directors. The bill requires each NRSRO to have a board with at least one-third independent directors and these directors shall oversee policies and procedures aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and improving internal controls, among other things.


    * Mitigate conflicts of interests. The legislation also contains numerous new requirements designed to mitigate the conflicts of interest that arise out of the issuer-pays model for compensating NRSROs. Additionally, the bill significantly enhances the responsibilities and accountability of NRSRO compliance officers to address conflicts of interest issues.


    * Greater Public Disclosure. As a result of the bill, investors will gain access to more information about the internal operations and procedures of NRSROs. In addition, the public will now learn more about how NRSROs get paid.


Fons, Jerome, 2008, “Rating Competition and Structured Finance”, Journal of Structured
    * Revolving-Door Protections. When certain NRSRO employees go to work for an issuer, the bill requires the NRSRO to conduct a 1-year look-back into the ratings in which the employee was involved to make sure that its procedures were followed and proper ratings were issued. The bill also requires NRSROs to report to the SEC, and for the SEC to make such reports public, the names of former NRSRO employees who go to work for issuers
Finance, Fall 2008. http://www.glgroup.com/News/White-Paper-on-Rating-Competition-and-Structured-Finance-(Part-1)-23549.html


Failures


Statement by
Enron November 2001 Orange County California, Mercury Finance, Pacific Gas & Electric, Enron, WorldCom, Delphi, General Motors and Ford.
Lawrence J. White*
for the
“Roundtable to Examine Oversight of Credit Rating Agencies”
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, DC
April 15, 2009
[http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Testimony&Hearing_ID=89e91cf4-71e2-406d-a416-0e391f4f52b0&Witness_ID=f6d7b43b-1747-4756-acc8-435aa501a87c]
(Statements about history)


[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=900257]
How and Why Credit Rating Agencies are Not Like Other Gatekeepers
Frank Partnoy
University of San Diego School of Law
"Credit rating agencies
are not widely respected among sophisticated market participants,"
Since 1973 credit ratings have been incorporated into hundreds of rules,
releases, and regulatory decisions, in various substantive areas including securities,
pension, banking, real estate, and insurance regulation


FINANCIAL GATEKEEPERS: CAN THEY PROTECT INVESTORS?, Yasuyuki Fuchita, Robert E. Litan, eds., Brookings Institution Press and the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, 2006
FINANCIAL GATEKEEPERS: CAN THEY PROTECT INVESTORS?, Yasuyuki Fuchita, Robert E. Litan, eds., Brookings Institution Press and the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, 2006
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The Paradox of Credit Ratings  Frank Partnoy
U San Diego Law & Econ Research Paper No. 20 [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=285162]
Numerous academic studies show that ratings changes lag the market
and that the market anticipates ratings changes.3 The rejoinder to these studies – that
ratings are correlated with actual default experience – is misplaced and inadequate,
because ratings can be both correlated with default and have little informational value.
Accordingly, such correlation proves nothing. Indeed, it would be surprising to find that
ratings – regardless of their informational value – were not correlated with default
:''There are two superpowers in the world today in my opinion. There’s the
United States and there’s Moody’s Bond Rating Service. The United States can
destroy you by dropping bombs, and Moody’s can destroy you by downgrading
your bonds. And believe me, it's not clear sometimes who's more powerful.''
(Thomas L. Friedman, in an interview  ith Jim Lehrer on ''Newshour'', PBS television, Feb. 13, 1996).


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 03:41, 2 March 2010

October Act

 * Stronger than the Administration's Plan on Rating Agencies. The Accountability and Transparency in Rating Agencies Act expands on the initial credit rating agency legislation proposed by the Administration in that it: 
   * Creates Accountability by Imposing Liability. The bill enhances the accountability of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) by clarifying the ability of individuals to sue NRSROs. The bill also clarifies that the limitation on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or any State not to regulate the substance of credit ratings or ratings methodologies does not afford a defense against civil anti-fraud actions. 
   * Duty to Supervise. The bill adds a new duty to supervise an NRSRO's employees and authorizes the SEC to sanction supervisors for failing to do so. 
   * Independent Board of Directors. The bill requires each NRSRO to have a board with at least one-third independent directors and these directors shall oversee policies and procedures aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and improving internal controls, among other things. 
   * Mitigate conflicts of interests. The legislation also contains numerous new requirements designed to mitigate the conflicts of interest that arise out of the issuer-pays model for compensating NRSROs. Additionally, the bill significantly enhances the responsibilities and accountability of NRSRO compliance officers to address conflicts of interest issues. 
   * Greater Public Disclosure. As a result of the bill, investors will gain access to more information about the internal operations and procedures of NRSROs. In addition, the public will now learn more about how NRSROs get paid. 
   * Revolving-Door Protections. When certain NRSRO employees go to work for an issuer, the bill requires the NRSRO to conduct a 1-year look-back into the ratings in which the employee was involved to make sure that its procedures were followed and proper ratings were issued. The bill also requires NRSROs to report to the SEC, and for the SEC to make such reports public, the names of former NRSRO employees who go to work for issuers

Failures

Enron November 2001 Orange County California, Mercury Finance, Pacific Gas & Electric, Enron, WorldCom, Delphi, General Motors and Ford.


FINANCIAL GATEKEEPERS: CAN THEY PROTECT INVESTORS?, Yasuyuki Fuchita, Robert E. Litan, eds., Brookings Institution Press and the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, 2006 San Diego Legal Studies Paper No. 07-46