Shadow banking is not regulated, nor are the ratings agencies.
Well, it's time to put Moody's and Fitch (60% French-owned) in jail
for "junking" fully 18% of the territory/business of Europe:
from boombustblog.com
...Eighteen Percent of the EU is Literally Junk, Carried As Risk Free Assets at Par Using 30x+ Leverage: Bank Collapse is Inevitable!!!
So, the next domino falls in the Pan-European Sovereign Debt Crisis. As has been the case for much of the Asset Securitization Crisis and the Pan-European Sovereign Debt Crisis, the ratings agencies have arrived to smoldering pile of ashes littered with charred bones and remnants of the putrid smell of burnt flesh with a fire hose and a megaphone yelling "Get out! We have word there may be a fire here!"
From Bloomberg: Ireland Debt Rating Cut to Junk, Adding Pressure for EU to Contain Crisis:
Ireland joined Portugal and Greece as the third euro-area nation to have its credit rating reduced to below investment grade as European Union finance ministers struggle to contain the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.
Moody’s Investors Service cut Ireland to Ba1 from Baa3, citing the probability that the country, which received a bailout last year, will need additional official financing and for investors to share in losses before it can return to the private market to borrow. The outlook remains “negative,” Moody’s said in a statement late yesterday.
