By James Kanter
(C) The New York Times 2010
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s financial services commissioner, Michel Barnier, vented his frustration with U.S.-based credit ratings agencies on Wednesday, May 5, as Moody’s Investors Service put Portugal on review for another possible downgrade that could make it more difficult for the country to service its debt.
Barnier was briefing reporters ahead of his first official visit to the United States, where he was to meet the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He will also meet with Wall Street titans like Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, and Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase.
Barnier complained that there were too few debt rating agencies, and he suggested that they were overly dominated by U.S. owners.
“There are not enough ratings agencies, not enough competition, and not enough diversity,” he said. “Why should there not be an agency that is more European than those that exist today?”
A decision by Standard & Poor’s, also based in the United States, to downgrade Greece’s debt to junk status last month enraged EU officials, who questioned whether the ratings agencies were accurately assessing how likely it was that countries in the euro zone would default on their sovereign debts.
Barnier said it was “an open question” whether such an alternative agency should be BRUSSELS — The European Union’s financial services commissioner, Michel Barnier, vented his frustration with U.S.-based credit ratings agencies Wednesday as Moody’s Investors Service put Portugal on review for another possible downgrade that could make it more difficult for the country to service its debt.
Mr. Barnier was briefing reporters ahead of his first official visit to the United States, where he was to meet the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. He will also meet with Wall Street titans like Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, and Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase.
Mr. Barnier complained that there were too few debt rating agencies, and he suggested that they were overly dominated by U.S. owners.