Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-05-Speech-3-187"
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"en.20070905.21.3-187"2
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"Mr President, I should like to ask the Commissioners for their response.
The events that took place in August in the sub-prime market highlighted a number of issues for all of us. First of all, the globalised nature of the financial markets which we are now dealing with, and the issue of how quickly regulation or supervision can keep pace with the way new products are being developed and new ideas are being developed. But it also brings to mind something an old farmer in West Cork in the south-west of Ireland once said to me: there is no such thing as an oil that can make your hair grow – apologies to those folically challenged within the Chamber; there is no such thing as a pair of glasses that can let you see through clothes and, also, there is a fool born every day. The reality is that the products made available were high risk, and no matter what anybody says, the idea of
is one that should have been at the very core of any decisions with regard to banks or other funds that we were going to invest in these high-risk products. It brings starkly into contrast the role of the credit-ratings agencies and their responsibility, not only with regard to the advice they give, but, in particular, regarding their informing us in a transparent manner as to whether they are representing these funds themselves or whether they are actually giving clear, independent advice.
Colleagues will remember that, a number of years ago, we discussed a directive on consumer credit, and the whole area of transparency and of having independent advice available to the consumers was one key element. Now, it is laughable that some of the biggest financial institutions in the world – and some in Europe – who are the people who spend so much money on buying-in expertise and telling us in Europe how we should run our economies, can be the ones who are now caught because of their bad investment policy.
I congratulate Commissioner McCreevy on his willingness to take on this issue and to tackle some of these areas. I also think it is essential now, not only in looking at credit-rating agencies, but also with regard to the risk that European banks are being exposed to because of the policies of some of those investments, and next week ..."@en1
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