Those credit rating agencies are heading for the spotlight again. In the coming days, European Union lawmakers and diplomats will try to agree another tranche of rules to improve the operation of CRAs. That this is Europe’s third effort, post-crisis, to rein in agencies’ behaviour says a lot. The big three agencies had a badly-flawed track record pre-2008, making tighter regulation for the lightly-monitored sector look essential. More recently, though, this reform drive has taken on a big political dimension as European leaders have fumed over the timing of some sovereign debt decisions.
那些信用評級機構又將再次成為焦點。在未來數日，歐盟的立法者和外交官們將試圖就改善評級機構運作的另一組規則達成一致。這是歐洲在危機過后為控制此類機構行為而作出的第三次努力，這本身就很說明問題。三大評級機構在2008年以前都有嚴重缺陷的記錄，為這一監管松懈的部門訂立更嚴格的規定，看來是必要的。然而最近，隨著歐洲各國領導人對一些涉及主權債務信用的決定感到憤怒，這一改革初衷又多了一層重要的政治意義。