EU Floats Regulation of Rating Agencies

Brussels, Belgium — Citing the credit crisis as evidence, Charlie McCreevy, internal market commissioner of the European Union says attempts at self-regulation by credit rating agencies under the aegis of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have been insufficient

“The IOSCO Code of Conduct to which the rating agencies signed up has been shown to be a toothless wonder,” McCreevy says. “The fact is that despite the checks on compliance with the IOSCO Code, no supervisor appears to have got as much as a sniff of the rot at the heart of the structured finance rating process before it all blew up.”

McGreevy says that legislative action by the EU may be necessary. “I said before that I would not wait indefinitely for the credit rating agencies to come forward with meaningful proposals to put their houses in order,” he says. “And I mean what I say.”

Source: European Union

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