格付け会社

(Aug. 24, 2008) The Yomiuri Shimbun

Credit rating agencies can't be left unregulated

格付け会社　もう野放しにしておけない（8月24日付・読売社説）

Recent developments have demonstrated that we can no longer leave credit rating agencies, which have enormous influence on financial markets and corporate activities, unregulated.

金融市場や企業活動に大きな影響を与える格付け会社を、もう野放しにしておけないということだろう。

Criticism has been mounting against U.S. and European credit rating agencies over the subprime fiasco, which continues to rock financial markets around the world.

世界の金融市場を揺るがし続けるサブプライムローン問題で、欧米の大手格付け会社に対する批判が高まっている。

The criticism stems from the fact that these firms gave high ratings for financial products incorporating loans with a high risk of defaulting.

焦げ付く恐れが強いローンを組み込んだ金融商品に、高い格付けを与えていたためだ。

The prices of those financial products later nosedived, causing huge financial losses for investors who had placed their faith in these ratings.

これらの金融商品は大幅に値下がりし、格付けを信じた投資家は大きな損害を受けた。

The United States last year moved to require that rating agencies be registered with the authorities. But there is no system currently in place in Japan or Europe that allows the authorities to monitor whether ratings are reasonable.

だが、格付け会社の登録制を昨年導入した米国は別として、日本と欧州には格付けが適正かどうか当局が監視する仕組みがない。

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Japan, EU move to regulate

(日本とヨーロッパ連合は格付け会社の統制をする見込み)

To rectify this situation, the European Union and Japan are moving to put such agencies under closer scrutiny, with the EU having agreed in July to introduce a registration system for ratings firms and Japan due to start discussions in earnest in the autumn to introduce a similar registration system.

このため、欧州連合（ＥＵ）は７月、登録制の導入で合意した。日本も登録制の導入に向け、秋から本格的な議論を始める。

International coordination is required to regulate major credit rating agencies operating across borders. Japan, for its part, should implement effective regulations by adopting a registration system.

国境を超えて活動する大手格付け会社の規制には、国際的な整合性が求められる。日本も登録制の採用で足並みをそろえ、効果的な規制に乗り出すべきである。

Credit ratings are widely used as indicators for gauging the credibility of corporate bonds and other financial products.

信用格付けは、企業などが発行する債券のほか、さまざまな金融商品の信用度を測る指標として、幅広く活用されている。

Japan has two major credit rating agencies, though U.S. and European firms are far more influential. Lowering of firms' ratings results in sharp declines in their stock prices, difficulty in their procuring of funds and, in some cases, financial crises that push them to the verge of bankruptcy.

日本にも有力な２社があるが、とりわけ欧米の大手格付け会社の影響力は大きい。格下げされた会社が株価の急落や資金調達難に見舞われ、経営危機に陥るケースも珍しくない。

Against a backdrop of accelerating financial globalization, credit rating agencies have dramatically beefed up their presence. But the way in which they rate financial products or corporations has frequently come under fire.

金融のグローバル化を背景に、格付け会社は急速に存在感を増した。その一方で、格付け手法に対する批判は絶えない。

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Impartiality under spotlight

In many cases, these rating agencies have given low ratings to companies that did not asked to be rated, but have then raised their ratings once they have become fee-paying clients.

依頼を受けずに出す「勝手格付け」は低いのに、その会社が手数料を払ってくれる顧客になったとたんに格付けを上げる。そんなケースが少なくないからだ。

Also, in connection with the subprime woes, speculation has been rife that credit rating firms gave financial products engineered by security firms higher ratings than they actually deserved at the request of the brokerages.

サブプライムローン問題を巡っても、金融商品を作り上げた証券会社が求めるままに、本来より高い格付けを出していたのではないかとの疑惑が浮上した。

Investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have found serious problems, such as collusion between rating firms and securities brokerages--their clients.

米証券取引委員会（ＳＥＣ）が調べたところ、依頼主である証券会社との癒着など、「深刻な問題があった」という。

If the ratings agencies have distorted their ratings simply because they wanted to gain lucrative fees, this could gravely undermine the credibility of the whole system of financial transactions.

高額の手数料欲しさに、格付けを歪めていたとすれば、金融取引全体の信用にかかわる重大事だ。

Therefore some kind of regulation is necessary to eliminate such suspicions.

こうした疑念を払拭するためにも何らかの規制が欠かせまい。

If Japan adopts a registration system, the Financial Services Agency will be able to oblige rating agencies to regularly submit reports and establish if their ratings are appropriate.

登録制を導入すれば、金融庁が格付け会社に定期的な報告を義務づけ、格付けが適正かどうかなどをチェックすることができる。

To ensure such regulations have teeth, it also is necessary to empower the FSA to conduct on-the-spot inspections and mete out administrative punishments, including the removal of violating firms from the registered list.

立ち入り検査や、登録取り消しなどの行政処分も導入し、規制の実効性を高める必要もあろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 24, 2008)

（2008年8月24日02時15分  読売新聞）