Time to take stock (TT JanFeb08 p40-41)

As a result of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent run on UK high street bank Northern Rock, the credit rating agencies have come under fierce criticism from the international financial community, regulatory bodies and politicians. Such criticism is hardly new. Commentators uestioned the inability of the agencies to predict events such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis or the corporate failures in the early part of this century. For example, the three major agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch – all gave Enron an investmentgrade rating until days before the US energy giant collapsed.