Does Europe need a different credit rating agency industry?

Overreliance on external ratings by investors has come under scrutiny since the crisis, where it emerged as a source of systemic risk –difficult to mitigate save by increasing transparency and encouraging own due diligence by investors. At the same time, rating agencies face a difficult position in the context of the Eurozone crisis, with legal challenges being launched in several member states. In this joint CEPS-ECMI event, Karel Lannoo met Frédéric Drevon, EMEA Head of Moody’s, and Michael Bangert, Vice President of E.ON, to discuss how this industry could better serve markets. While participants agreed that regulation should not favor reliance on credit ratings as final arbiters of risk, the debate highlighted the inordinate amount of influence rating agencies have on investors anyway. The conflicts of interest faced by these agencies invite regulators to reconsider current business models and competition in the market place.

Speakers

• Frédéric Drevon, Managing Director, Regional Head for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Moody’s
• Dr. Michael Bangert, Vice President, Finance, External Mandates, E.ON
• Karel Lannoo, Senior Research Fellow and CEO of CEPS and ECMI

Queries

For more information please contact Mirzha de Manuel at mirzha.demanuel@ceps.eu or phone 0032 2 229 39 17.