Credit rating agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s are key players in the governance of global financial markets. Given the very strong criticism the rating agencies faced in the wake of the global financial crisis 2008, how can we explain the puzzle of their survival? Market and regulatory reliance on ratings continues, despite the shift from a light-touch to a mandatory system of agency regulation and supervision. Drawing on the analysis of rating agency regulation in the US and the EU before and after the financial crisis, we argue that a pervasive, persistent and, in our view, erroneous understanding of rating has supported the never-ending story of rating agency authority. We show how treating ratings as metrics, private goods, and independent and neutral third-party opinions contributes to the ineffectiveness of rating agency regulation and supports the continuing authoritative standing of the credit rating agencies in market and regulatory practices.

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What are the rationales for policymakers to rely on putatively disinterested actors such as credit rating agencies (CRAs) for financial regulatory input? This paper draws on perspectives from International Political Economy and Comparative Legal Studies to analyze the reasons behind the use and retention of external ratings as an indirect instrument of financial regulation. We find that allowing 'market practice' to determine the relationship between ratings and regulation creates tautological justifications of the CRAs' authority, and raises compelling questions in terms of legitimacy.The purpose of this paper is to uncover the constitutive elements of the tacit acquiescence underlying the subordination to CRA ratings in regulatory matters. The examination of possible conceptualizations of legitimacy may help conduct further inquiries into the politics of technocracy.

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