Rating agencies have avoided punishment for hypothec crisis in the USA
5 June 2008Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings are going to enter into the agreement with Office of Public Prosecutor of state New York, which is already for some months investigating the role of rating agencies in the American hypothec crisis.
The Office of Public Prosecutor is ready to stop investigation concerning Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and their roles in hypothec crisis.
In exchange for it rating agencies should within six months change system of collection of commission fee from securities’ emitters. Basically it is a question of the structural tools concerning the hypothec market. The market of rating such papers is estimated in $5 billion.
According to the agreement with Office of Public Prosecutor, agencies will receive higher payment from emitters for the preliminary analysis of a preparing issue of securities even if this analysis will be not the most favorable for the emitter.
It is also supposed, that reform will make process of a choice of the most favorable agency so expensive for emitters that they will refuse from these practice.
Besides, according to the agreement the agencies are undertaking to open quarterly the size of the commission fee, received for assignment of ratings on hypothec securities.
Representatives Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings have declared, that will not make comments on situation yet.
