MEPs, the Commission and governments agree new regulations to rein in credit rating agencies – but fear they may not go far enough.

EU gets tough on credit rating agencies

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16148085/n001-121128-001-enx.srt

Tough new rules for credit rating agencies,

that’s what MEPs have now agreed  with EU governments and the Commission.

More transparency is demanded,  more accountability,

and the agencies must be held responsible  when they get it wrong.

We do introduce the principle of liability.

This is something the rating agencies  have been fighting against.

This is important because their position,  that they just express an opinion, is not true.

November hasn’t been kind  to the credit rating agencies.

A court in Australia has ruled that  local authorities can sue Standard & Poor's

and an Italian town wants some employees  of S&P and Fitch to face trial,

The agencies’ judgement  has been questioned too,

the giving AAA status to  what turned out to be junk bonds.

We need ratings, but not run by private  companies with conflicts of interest.

We would like to have ratings  in the public interest only.

The agencies can still produce  assessments of sovereign debt,

but only according to a strict time-table,

so that EU countries won't find themselves  downgraded on the eve of a summit,

Many see it as a modest step, but it was  as far as governments were prepared to go.

We were a bit surprised to see that  a number of our proposals

which seemed to go in the direction of  better supervision of the agencies

I have wondered at times  if the Member States aren't masochists.

The Commission is being encouraged  to set up a foundation

for a European alternative  to the existing agencies.