Aktueller Kommentar zur Regulierung der Ratingagenturen

On the 15th of November 2011 the European Commission (EC) announced further proposals concerning the regulation of Credit Ratings Agencies (CRAs) – the third CRA reform since the financial crisis. The intention is to ‘reduce risks to financial stability and restore the confidence of investors and other market participants in financial markets and ratings quality’. While Threadneedle fully supports the aims of the EC, were the proposals to be implemented in their current form, not only are these goals unlikely to be achieved, but their impact would be materially negative to credit markets:

• European ratings will become more uniform, dictated by the authorities, while comparability with non-EU rated transactions will be lost, paradoxically leading them to have greater credibility and investor appetite.

• Within Europe, CRAs are likely to rate higher in jurisdictions where there is more legal certainty and lower in those where there is less credibility.

• It is likely that ratings are not just downgraded but retracted from issuers in the European periphery.

• The credibility of CRAs will be lowered, with a significant proportion of the investor community needing to carry out more research for themselves for the First time, and being ill-equipped to do so.

• European debt will require a higher risk premium as confidence in the credibility of ratings declines compared to ratings issued outside of the EU.

• The value of ratings may diminish to such an extent that they offer no value within investment mandates.

• Shorter-term debt issuance is likely to increase.

Weitere Hintergründe finden Sie im beigefügten pdf-Dokument.