Rating agencies back in business

Revenues and margins at Europe’s big three credit rating agencies are back to pre-financial crisis levels and the trio are in line for more business, despite a welter of new rules aimed at reducing their influence, a regulator said on Monday.

Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch came under fire when securitised debt they rated highly turned toxic from 2007, sowing the seeds for a global market meltdown and costly bank bailouts.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic passed a raft of rules to better supervise the agencies and the US even banned the use of ratings in some instances.