Reluctant watchdogs
Shunning a regulatory role
RATING agencies ought, by rights, to be thrilled that their services may be needed to set bank-capital requirements worldwide. Yet the two biggest firms, Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's, are alarmed by proposals by the Basel Committee to use their credit ratings to set how much capital banks must put aside for each loan.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Reluctant watchdogs”
From the June 9th 2001 edition
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