Seminar paper from the year 2019 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, , language: English, abstract: The objective of this seminar paper is to illuminate the work and role of credit rating agencies in the global financial system and to explain and understand the general criticism directed at them. In addition, their special part in the subprime crisis of 2008 will be analysed and an estimation will be made of how much responsibility they bear in the crisis.

Ratings, Rating Agencies and the Global Financial System brings together the research of economists at New York University and the University of Maryland, along with those from the private sector, government bodies, and other universities. The first section of the volume focuses on the historical origins of the credit rating business and its present day industrial organization structure. The second section presents several empirical studies crafted largely around individual firm-level or bank-level data. These studies examine (a) the relationship between ratings and the default and recovery experience of corporate borrowers, (b) the comparability of credit ratings made by domestic and foreign rating agencies, and (c) the usefulness of financial market indicators for rating banks, among other topics. In the third section, the record of sovereign credit ratings in predicting financial crises and the reaction of financial markets to changes in credit ratings is examined. The final section of the volume emphasizes policy issues now facing regulators and credit rating agencies.

This title is a guide to ratings, the ratings industry, and the mechanics and economics of obtaining a rating. It sheds light on the role that the agencies play in the international financial markets.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1.3, Berlin School of Economics and Law, language: English, abstract: After the Asian crisis during the 1990s and the startling insolvencies of Enron and Parmalat, the recent financial crisis is one the most important trigger to raise doubt concerning the proper work of rating agencies. They are criticized because of their various conflicts of interest and obvious deficits in practicing their rating methods. The rating agencies should be jointly responsible for the emergence of the so-called bubble markets during the last couple of years. Because of these bubbles and their boom and burst effect, private as well as institutional investors lost enormous sums of assets and single countries were thrown into financial turmoil. Because of these facts, the discontent concerning the rating agencies grew. People took additional notice of their market power, which they only obtained because of their influence on the global capital flows and the use of ratings to regulate the financial markets. To particularize the issues, it is helpful to bring up the year 2007, when the delayed payments among the subprime loans became more frequent. This was due to the slower increase of the housing prices and the rising short-termed interest. Consequently, the rating agencies depreciated a lot of these structured financial products, many of which had received the highest seal of quality before (AAA). Those actions both led to a massive loss of confidence on the investors' side and a remarkable decline of liquidity. The former market of securitization products no longer existed. Influenced by this development and because they were considerable involved in this securitization business, a lot of banks also got into this downstream. In the first part of this term paper I will present some general facts about the rating agencies including their history of origins. Afterwards I will mention the process of rating and th

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 2,2, European Business School - International University Schloß Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel, course: Introduction to Investment Banking, language: English, abstract: “There are two superpowers in the world [...] the United States and Moody’s Bond Rating Service” – Thomas L. Friedman, NY Times The above statement by Thomas L. Friedman accentuates the importance of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in modern financial markets. As the past months have shown, Friedman’s statement has held especially true for the role of CRAs in the structured finance market, where CRAs are currently being made responsible for playing an integral role in the emergence of one of the biggest financial crises of mankind: the subprime crisis. The role and the importance of CRAs in the structured finance market is the central topic of the following paper. To fully understand the impact of this issue on the worldwide financial markets, it is interesting to shed some light onto the dimensions of the structured finance market. The market is of considerable size given that outstanding structured finance securities in the United States amounted to 7.3 trillion US dollars in 2005 (Nomura, 2005) and have now grown to 9 trillion US dollars, which is more than two thirds of the United States GDP of 13.1 trillion US dollars in 2007 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, BEA, 2007). More-over, these outstanding structured finance securities represent more than 30% of the total outstandings in the U.S. bond markets (Nomura, 2005). As these figure reveal, it is not surprising that complications in the core of the huge market of structured finance could potentially lead to a major destabilisation of the entire worldwide financial markets; a risk that was obviously underestimated for a long time and finally lead to the genesis of the sub-prime crisis. The role of CRAs in the structured finance market has long been debated and the current financial turmoil has brought about concerns regarding such questions as to whether these credit ratings were based on wrong information and faulty or dated models, thereby questioning the significance of the system of CRAs. To enable a better insight into the functioning of CRAs and a justified testimony as to their performance, the following paper will dig deeply into the ambiguity of the rating process and the role of CRAs in structured finance.

Credit rating agencies play a critical role in capital markets, guiding the asset allocation of institutional investors as private capital moves freely around the world in search of the best trade-off between risk and return. However, they have also been strongly criticised for failing to spot the Asian crisis in the early 1990s, the Enron, WorldCom and Parmalat collapses in the early 2000s and finally for their ratings of subprime-related structured finance instruments and their role in the current financial crisis. This book is a guide to ratings, the ratings industry and the mechanics and economics of obtaining a rating. It sheds light on the role that the agencies play in the international financial markets. It avoids the sensationalist approach often associated with studies of rating scandals and the financial crisis, and instead provides an objective and critical analysis of the business of ratings. The book will be of practical use to any individual who has to deal with ratings and the ratings industry in their day-to-day job. Reviews "Rating agencies fulfil an important role in the capital markets, but given their power, they are frequently the object of criticism. Some of it is justified but most of it portrays a lack of understanding of their business. In their book The Rating Agencies and their Credit Ratings, Herwig and Patricia Langohr provide an excellent economic background to the role of rating agencies and also a thorough understanding of their business and the problems they face. I recommend this book to all those who have an interest in this somewhat arcane but extremely important area." -Robin Monro-Davies, Former CEO, Fitch Ratings. "At a time of unprecedented public and political scrutiny of the effectiveness and indeed the basic business model of the Credit Rating industry, and heightened concerns regarding the transparency and accountability of the leading agencies, this book provides a commendably comprehensive overview, and should provide invaluable assistance in the ongoing debate." -Rupert Atkinson, Managing Director, Head of Credit Advisory Group, Morgan Stanley and member of the SIFMA Rating Agency Task Force "The Langohrs have provided useful information in a field where one frequently finds only opinions or misconceptions. They supply a firm base from which to understand changes now underway. A well-read copy of this monograph should be close to the desk of every investor, issuer and financial regulator, legislator or commentator." -John Grout, Policy and Technical Director, The Association of Corporate Treasurers

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.