Securities Regulation
Intermediate
Credit Rating Agencies
Intermediaries that assess credit risk and publish ratings used by investors, issuers, contracts, and sometimes regulatory rules.
Why It Matters
Rating agencies illustrate how reputation, issuer payment, legal reliance, and barriers to entry interact in gatekeeper markets and can amplify correlated errors.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1999
Advanced
The Siskel and Ebert of Financial Markets: Two Thumbs Down for the Credit Rating Agencies
Frank Partnoy
Washington University Law Quarterly
2001
Advanced
Barbarians at the Gatekeepers?: A Proposal for a Modified Strict Liability Regime
Frank Partnoy
Washington University Law Quarterly
2016
Advanced
The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research
Christian Leuz and Peter D. Wysocki
Journal of Accounting Research
Related Cases
1976
Securities Regulation
Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder
425 U.S. 185 (1976)
Scienter requirement for private damages actions under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5.
1994
Securities Regulation
Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank of Denver
511 U.S. 164 (1994)
Private aiding-and-abetting liability under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act.
2011
Securities Regulation
Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders
564 U.S. 135 (2011)
Who makes a statement for purposes of private Rule 10b-5 liability.
1943
Securities Regulation
SEC v. C.M. Joiner Leasing Corp.
320 U.S. 344 (1943)
Whether sales of oil-lease assignments promoted together with a promised test well were investment contracts subject to federal securities law.