Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-09-Speech-1-057"
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"en.20040209.4.1-057"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Katiforis, ladies and gentlemen, this report and this issue are of particular significance in view of the many questions that are being raised. Previous speakers have already shown you how the rating agencies have gained twofold significance – on the one hand as a result of notorious scandals, and on the other as a result of the consumer credit directive or the development of Basel II.
Let us be frank, and admit that every customer of a bank, and certainly anyone taking out a loan, is the subject of some form of rating process. Above all, rating agencies assess companies and countries. These evaluations lead to debates on the level of interest rates, the amount of equity capital and the stock exchange prices; they also have an effect on customers’ confidence in the business and country in question. It also, of course, follows that we have to bear in mind that the whole philosophy behind rating agencies is largely of Anglo-Saxon origin and that there are three large firms in this field that carry out ratings – major and significant ones – in Europe too. That being so, we also have to consider the fact that all these rating agencies possess a quality mark – an American one awarded by the
Securities and Exchange Commission. If, then, we are to talk in terms of more competition, we need not only European agencies, but also a quality mark, for some kind of quality mark has the natural effect of building confidence and enhancing the agency’s value in the market.
We therefore want to put the case for Europe’s rating agencies to be promoted and for them to respond specifically to the characteristics and needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. We want to advocate the introduction of a European quality mark, or, best of all, a global one, to accompany Basel II, and we want a debate on internal and external rating. We favour freedom of opinion and the agencies’ independence, and we want greater transparency.
That is why I regard it as intolerable that there should be no licensing procedure whatever for rating agencies. It may be that starting with financial market supervision, and with equal treatment for internal and external ratings so that agencies can be registered, that is to say, authorised, is a good approach that we should adopt, instead of creating new authorities."@en1
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