ON THE MONITOR
Credit Rating Agency Reform Could Up the Stakes for Money Managers
April 11, 2010
In the wake of the financial meltdown, credit rating agencies such as Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service have been widely criticized for giving high ratings to securities that later proved worthless.
So it’s not surprising that a critical part of the Senate’s financial reform bill -- also known as the Dodd bill -- deals with increased credit rating agency oversight.
The securities industry has a vital stake in the outcome.
Credit rating agencies are an integral part of the capital markets, providing assessments of default and loss probabilities on financial instruments worldwide. Their ratings reflect their reviews and analyses of everything from sovereign debt and public finance debt issues to traditional corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, and a host of structured instruments.
Depending on what comes out of the Dodd legislation, the impact on the operations of mutual fund and institutional money managers could be significant.
THE WEEK AHEAD:
TUESDAY, APRIL 13
EVENT: Half-Day Compliance Boot Camp
8 a.m., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority district office, Los Angeles
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14
EVENT: Master Data Management Summit
Through April 16, Gartner, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
EARNINGS CALL: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
9 a.m., First Quarter Earnings Estimate: 64 cents
HEARING: Housing Finance: Government and Stakeholder Perspectives
9:30 a.m., House Financial Services Committe, 2128 Rayburn House Office Building
OPEN MEETING: Trader Reporting and Quotation Access
10 a.m., Securities and Exchange Commission, headquarters, Washington, D.C.
FRIDAY, APRIL 16
EARNINGS CALL: Bank of America Corporation (BAC)
9:30 a.m., First Quarter Earnings Estimate: 9 cents.
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Morgan Stanley: CIO Spending to Swing Up 5% in 2010
SEC Charges Morgan Keegan With Fraud
Liquidnet Selects Solace Systems for Messaging
Time Arriving to 'Sublet' Computing Power
Nasdaq OMX Launches Portfolio Manager App for iPad
First Interest-Rate Swap Cleared on Tradeweb
Morgan Stanley still chasing Goldman
Finra warns B-Ds about their bond ratings
Bloomberg Citigroup Fined $650,000 by Finra for Stock-Lending Violations
