Credit Rating Agencies. Still credible?

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: 2:0, Kingston University London, language: English, abstract: The research is covering the three major credit rating agencies(S&P, Moody's and Fitch) and their involvement in the 2008 economic crisisThe worldwide financial crisis has thrust credit rating agencies into the spotlight. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Credit Rating Agencies credibility after the crisis and the role they play in the global investment and financial markets. Another aim was to find out how the Credit Rating agencies were implicated in the crisis. Finally an explanation of the different aspects of rating process was given in the study. As an explanatory research, a case study analysis method was applied. This method was carried out by opting for a documentary analysis which relies highly on qualitative data. This research initiative currently under consideration can be seen as an effort to summarise the current reputation of Credit Rating Agencies and answer the question whether their credibility was affected or not. The results of the study discover that the credibility of Credit rating agencies was affected by the financial crisis, and this was due to its implication in this crisis by implying a non accurate methodology process for products assessment. The principal conclusion was that the credit rating agencies had a slight loss on their credibility after the financial crisis, but due to their previous role in sustaining the world financial markets and the need of market assessment by investors give another chance to restore this credibility.