Posted on 05/17/2010 6:14:29 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
KPMG and PwC eye rating move
By Richard Milne and Rachel Sanderson in London
Published: May 17 2010 03:00 | Last updated: May 17 2010 03:00
KPMG and PwC, two of the world's largest accounting firms, have considered entering the credit rating business, in a move that would pitch them against the current top three - and heavily criticised - agencies Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
John Griffith Jones, chairman of KPMG in the UK and co-chair in Europe, told the Financial Times it had discussed the move as - being one of the four biggest accounting firms in the world - it had the skills, knowledge and people to provide credit ratings.
However, Mr Griffith Jones said KPMG was "passively considering it", not actively debating it.
"It is something that we talk about as a plausible thing to do. It is effectively something we would be proficient at doing . . . But it's not on the agenda at the moment," Mr Griffith Jones said.
His comments open a new front in the debate on credit rating agencies, whose reputation s took a battering during the financial crisis with several investigations under way into their behaviour. Politicians in Europe are keen to see an alternative to the trio of agencies amid claims of conflicts of interest - companies pay agencies for their rating.
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
P!
Fox guarding the henhouse.....let’s here more about the “Chinese wall” they’ll use to protect the analysts..what a load of crapola...
Different faces, same game.
How about a rating that goes with the individual signing the report?
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