7 Amendments of Sahra WAGENKNECHT related to 2008/0217(COD)
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Credit rating agencies play an important role in global securities and banking markets, as their ratings are used by investors, borrowers, issuers and governments to make informed investment and financing decisions. Credit institutions, investments firms, insurance undertakings, assurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings, undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) and institutions for occupational retirement provision, may use those ratings as the reference for the calculation of their capital requirements for solvency purposes or for calculating risks in their investment activity. Consequently, credit ratings have a significant impact on the trust and confidence of investors and consumers. It is essential, therefore, that credit ratings used in the Community are independent, objective and of the highest quality. To that end, public rating agencies need to be set up, financed by fees. In addition, the importance of ratings should be greatly scaled down so as to prevent market operators from being lulled into a false sense of security about the risks incurred.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Currently, most credit rating agencies have their headquarters outside the Community. Most Member States do not regulate the activities of credit rating agencies or the conditions for the issuance of credit ratings. Despite their significant importance for the functioning of the financial markets, credit rating agencies are only to a limited extent subject to Community legislation, notably Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on insider dealing and market manipulation. Moreover, Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions and Directive 2006/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions refer to credit rating agencies. It is therefore important to lay down rules ensuring that all ratings used by financial institutions governed by Community legislation are of high quality and issued by public credit rating agencies subject to stringent requirements. The Commission will continue to work withthat do not work for profit, since this its international partners to ensure convergence of the rules applythe only way to avoid conflicts of interest ing to credithe rating agencieprocess.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Credit rating agencies are considered to have failed to reflect early enough in their credit ratings the worsening market conditions. This failure can be best corrected by measures related to conflicts of interest, the quality of the credit ratings, the transparency of thesetting up public European credit rating agencies, their internal governance and surveillance of the activities of the credit rating agenciesat would be financed by fees and would not work for profit. The users of credit ratings should not rely blindly on credit ratings. They should take utmost care to perform their own analysis and conduct due diligence regarding their reliance on such credit ratings.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Under certain circumstances structured finance instruments may have effects which are different from traditional corporate debt instruments. It could be misleading for investors to apply the same rating categories to both types of instruments without further explanation. Credit rating agencies should play an important role in raising awareness of the users of ratings about the specificities of Given the financial crisis it is legitimate to ask whether the risks associated withe structured finance products in relation to traditional ones. Therefore credit rating agencies should either use different rating categories when rating structured finance instruments or provide additional information on the different risk characteristics of these producinstruments can in any way be properly quantified. To prevent market operators being lulled into a false sense of security, credit rating agencies should, as a matter of principle, refrain from rating structured finance instruments.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In order to ensure a high level of investor and consumer confidence in the internal market, the influence of credit rating agencies which issue credit ratings intended for use for regulatory purposes by financial institutions in the Community should be subject to registration. It is therefore necessary to lay down the conditions and the procedure for the granting, suspension and withdrawal of that registrationshould be limited, whereas the internal risk management of financial institutions should be strengthened. Only public institutions should be permitted to issue official credit ratings intended for use for regulatory purposes by financial institutions in the Community.
Amendment 239 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Credit institutions, investments firms, insurance, assurance and reinsurance undertakings, undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) and institutions for occupational retirement provision referred to in Article 2 may onlynot use for regulatory purposes credit ratings which are issued by private credit rating agencies established in the Community and registered in accordance with this Regulation.
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Investment firms and credit institutions referred to in Art. 1 of Directive 2004/39/EC should not execute orders on behalf of their clients with respect to financial instruments which have been rated, unless the credit rating has been issued by a credit rating agency registered in accordance with this Regulationchecked and confirmed by a public European credit rating agency.