Rating agencies must improve transparency

ESMA published on the 22 March 2012 a report on the supervision of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) registered in the European Union (EU). The report provided an overview of ESMA’s supervisory activity and summarised the results of the first examinations ESMA conducted in December 2011 of three groups of CRAs, namely Fitch Ratings (Fitch), Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s) and Standard and Poor’s
Rating Services (S&P).

The report said that the three credit rating agencies must improve their transparency, IT and internal controls and strengthen the committees that oversee decisions on individual securities.

http://www.esma.europa.eu/ http://www.esma.europa.eu/

ESMA: Press Release, 23.3.12: ESMA issues a report on its first examinations of credit rating agencies http://www.esma.europa.eu/system/files/2012-220.pdf

ESMA: ESMA’s Report on the Supervision of Credit Rating Agencies, March 2012 http://www.esma.europa.eu/system/files/2012-207.pdf

ESO: Background information: Rating agencies fall under EU supervision http://www.europeansources.info/record/rating-agencies-fall-under-eu-supervision/

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