By Marc Jones
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - S&P Global, Moody's and
Fitch, the so-called 'Big Three' credit ratings agencies, are
maintaining their dominance of Europe's credit score market
despite the region's efforts to loosen their vice-like grip,
data shows.
Data published on Wednesday by EU watchdog, the European
Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), showed the trio
accounted for 92% of all paid-for 'solicited' ratings, which
range from government bonds to company debt and structured
finance.
Despite efforts by Brussels to encourage greater competition
following the global financial crash and euro zone debt crisis,
that figure has reduced only fractionally over the last decade.
The number of ratings firms registered in the 30-country
European Economic Area (EEA30), which the ESMA data cover, has
also been dropping steadily in recent years and now stands at 19
compared to 25 back in 2020.
Of the 141,600 credit ratings for EEA30 issuers and debt
instruments at the end of last year, 79% were corporate ratings,
12% were government sovereign ratings and 9% rated structured
finance products, the figures - which didn't give a full
agency-by-agency breakdown of their market shares - showed.
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Big Three dominance "Big Three" credit ratings firms have tight stranglehold on
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(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Messaging: marc.jones.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Twitter
@marcjonesrtrs))
