[eXpat]

That´s quite a big rug and broom to sweep bad economic news

Europe Launches Ban On All Policy Criticism By Scrapping Use Of Rating Agencies

Why are we not surprised? The EU has just voted to scrap the use of ratings agencies in the next step on the road to a ban of all policy criticism. Via Bloomberg,

EU LAWMAKERS APPROVE AMENDMENT TO END USE OF CREDIT RATINGS

It seems just a few years ago, when these very same ratings agencies were raising ratings and supporting banking systems, mortgage provision, and sovereign-inclusions-into-monetary-unions, that the political elite could not showing off their bronzed statues of AAA/AA-ness.

And in the most bizarre of twists, they would prefer if they were allowed to rate themselves:

LAWMAKERS CALL FOR EU TO ISSUE SOVEREIGN CREDIT RATINGS

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/europe-launches-ban-all-policy-criticism-scrapping-use-rating-agencies
and
http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-alert-eu-lawmakers-approve-amendment-to-end-use-of-credit-ratings/#.T-Chw3mXmSo

[EnergyUnlimited]

I like it.
The worst, the better.

[Plantagenet]

Since the EU is lending money to itself, it might as well give itself credit ratings too, so it knows how much interest it should pay itself.

[smiley]

LOL... apparently this Jim Brunsen of Bloomberg posted the story (to which zerohedge and investmentwatchdog refer) without reading or understanding the actual legislature. Bloomberg has quickly changed the title and the content of the article.

EU Lawmakers Seek To Scrap Credit-Ratings Rotation Plan

European Union lawmakers voted to scrap most of a proposal to force businesses to rotate the credit-ratings company they hire to assess their debt, while backing tighter restrictions on sovereign-debt ratings. <snip>

Bloomberg

However check the URL, it still bears the original title.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-19/eu-lawmakers-approve-amendment-to-scrap-use-of-credit-ratings.html

I think an editor somewhere is having a pretty bad day.

[dissident]

Those ratings were a total joke to start with so this makes no difference. S&P rated Greece higher than Russia in 2009 (A vs BBB) even though Russia's foreign debt is 36 billion dollars or 9% of Greece's debt and Russia's nominal GDP is 1.5 trillion US dollars vs. about 300 billion for Greece. Greece had no collateral to back up its debt payments, Russia has massive oil and gas revenues. Also, S&P rate Mexico at the same level as Russia, namely BBB. Mexico has a foreign debt of over 340 billion dollars and its nominal GDP is 1.2 trillion dollars. Again, Mexico does not have much in the way of collateral and major internal strife (55,000 people dead since 2006 in the cartel wars) and collapsing oil production.

These rating agencies were also part of the reason for the 2008 financial meltdown since they over-rated many so-called assets.

[mattduke]

I don't need an Agency to tell me the bonds are junk. Guess what, the soaring US bonds are junk too.

[efarmer]

Oh, the ratings agencies! Fairy Dust Sprinklers for the financial world. Tinkerbells who became whores for the Lost Boys on Wall Street and in the aftermath of what they helped create downrated the nation that let them go so naughty.

Can't go to war for a decade on your Visa people and run a sham game of creating Spam tranches of horseshit investments with gold foil wrappers from the Cayman Islands and the Tinkerbell whores of the New York ratings agencies declaring foil wrapped road apples as solid 24K gold with a wink.

American Finance in New York is the world class scam, Europe is taking the hit for dancing with
the big whores of New York for a agonizing torture by close association. They are riding Old Sparky
for the Sins of the Big Men Whores of New York and their bought POLS.

Washington and New York are producing losers of masses of American and Global People to enrich a
few connected shits, including themselves. Do not be surprised if Germany or China or both set up
less jaded markets and the East Coast US Rats scurry for a rat hole their big heads will jam into.

No one could beat New York as a global financial power. They ended up bored and doing it to themselves. Europe telling them their jaded and bought ratings schmucks are toast is merely
the first step for these folks.

[americandream]

If only life were that simple. It would pay to understand the complex interconnectivity that constitutes global capitalism.