EU declares war on ratings agencies

EU commissioner Michel Barnier takes on the big three credit ratings agencies: Standard & Poor, Moody's and Fitch.

Europe is sliding into a war it may struggle to win with the international credit ratings agencies following a tumultuous week in which the agencies partly forced a major shift in the EU response to the Greek sovereign debt crisis.

The commissioner in charge of the EU's single market, French politician Michel Barnier, alternately sneered and threatened the three big agencies who dominate 90% of the ratings industry: Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch.

His remarks followed a broadside on Monday from fellow commissioner Viviane Reding, of Luxembourg, who said the ratings agencies' "cartel" should be "smashed up" since they were seeking to determine the fate of Europe and its single currency.

Source and full story: The Guardian, 12 July 2011