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.
Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, East Asia has implemented a number of initiatives designed to strengthen monetary and financial cooperation, bolstering the region's resilience to economic and financial vulnerabilities. One such initiative is the ASEAN+3 Information Exchange and Policy Dialogue, which includes development of early warning systems (EWS) for financial crises. This book examines efforts to develop EWS models. Specifically, the book analyzes the current understanding of the causes of currency and banking crises, describes recent progress in developing and applying EWS models for currency and banking crises, reviews methodolgical issues, assesses the predictive power of EWS models and also highlights areas where further research is required to make these models more effective tools for policy analysis. The case studies apply both parametric and nonparametric approaches to EWS modleing using data from six East Asian countries.
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 Independence of Credit Rating Agencies focuses on the institutional and regulatory dynamics of these agencies, asking whether their business models give them enough independence to make viable judgments without risking their own profitability. Few have closely examined the analytical methods of credit rating agencies, even though their decisions can move markets, open or close the doors to capital, and bring down governments. The 2008 financial crisis highlighted their importance and their shortcomings, especially when they misjudged the structured financial products that precipitated the collapse of Bear Stearns and other companies. This book examines the roles played by rating agencies during the financial crisis, illuminating the differences between U.S. and European rating markets, and also considers subjects such as the history of rating agencies and the roles played by smaller agencies to present a well-rounded portrait. - Reports on one of the key causes of the 2008 financial crisis: agencies that failed to understand how to analyze financial products - Describes inherent business model and pricing conflicts that compromise the independence of credit rating agencies - Reveals how rating agencies large and small, regulatory bodies, and vested interests interact in setting fees and policies
This book examines the transgressions of the credit rating agencies before, during and after the recent financial crisis. It proposes that by restricting the agencies’ ability to offer ancillary services there stands the opportunity to limit, in an achievable and practical manner, the potentially negative effect that the Big Three rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – may have upon the financial sector and society moreover. The book contains an extensive and in-depth discussion about how the agencies ascended to their current position, why they were able to do so and ultimately their behaviour once their position was cemented. This work offers a new framework for the reader to follow, suggesting that investors, issuers and the state have a ‘desired’ version of the agencies in their thinking and operate upon that basis when, in fact, those imagined agencies do not exist, as demonstrated by the ‘actual’ conduct of the agencies. The book primarily aims to uncover this divergence and reveal the ‘real’ credit rating agencies, and then on that basis propose a real and potentially achievable reform to limit the negative effects that result from poor performance in this Industry. It addresses the topics with regard to financial regulation and the financial crisis, and will be of interest to legal scholars interested in the intersection between business and he law as well as researchers, academics, policymakers, industry and professional associations and students in the fields of corporate law, banking and finance law, financial regulation, corporate governance and corporate finance.
Third-Party Certifiers Jan De Bruyne Third-party certifiers are organisations that are independent a requesting entity. They attest that a product, service, information or person possesses certain qualifications or meets safety, quality or technical standards. This important book presents an in-depth analysis of the liability and obligations of certifiers, evaluates existing certification processes in selected fields and proposes new mechanisms which could increase the accuracy and reliability of certifiers’ ratings, marks or reports. Highlighting the risks of errors in this activity – inaccurate certification was a major factor in the global financial crisis of 2008 – the author takes a comparative approach, looking at the certification process in several European countries, Australia and the United States. Such aspects of the process as the following are thoroughly described: obligations and liability of certifiers during the certification process; risk of ‘information asymmetry’ between the requesting entity and the end user; and relationship between the civil liability of certifiers and public law aspects. The analysis includes detailed research on key industries and jurisdictions and a specific proposed framework for more accurate and reliable certification. Because the efficient and effective functioning of third-party certifiers is extremely important in today’s world – especially in such areas as health, the environment, safety or economic values – this deeply researched contribution to an important area of commercial law, combining analysis of current issues with proposed reforms, will be welcomed by practitioners when confronted with legal issues with regard to the certification process. The book’s conceptual framework will also prove highly useful for policymakers charged with developing reliable certification mechanisms.
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.
John Coffee traces the evolution of the four main gatekeeping professions: auditors, lawyers, securities analysts and credit-rating agencies, in the wake of corporate governance disasters, such as Enron and WorldCom.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.
