Michel Barnier, EU Commissioner for Internal Markets, has warned that it may require additional regulations on the role of credit agencies in the markets, Air Force forward. He told Parliament that he was surprised by the rapid decrease in the rating of Greece. In December, will come into effect new rules for agencies under which they will have to explain how they decided to change a rating. According to Barnier, however, may require further tightening of regulations for agencies. He said he is considering creating a new agency to evaluate government ratings. Barnier stressed that the impact of the agencies is very important not only to companies but also for individual countries. At the end of April, Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating on Greece to “junk” (high-risk securities). Critics of the rating agencies indicate that they have so much power that their assessments are becoming self-realization is prophecy. Rating downgrades could lead to sales of government bonds or lack of interest in new issues. This lowered the price of bonds and increase their profitability, which in turn further limited government finances and theoretically can cause further decreases in ratings. In recent months, Greece has sought unsuccessfully to combat precisely this vicious circle.
Last year the three major agencies, – Standard & Poor’s, Fitch and Moody’s, acknowledged that their estimates of securities secured by subprime mortgage, have proved inaccurate. The agencies were accused failed to assess the amount of risk and risk bonds, which led to the crisis.