A number of
German companies have expressed their indignation at alleged plans by the US
Standard and Poor's rating agency to drastically increase fees for assessing
the firms' economic performance.
Twelve of
Germany's largest companies have sent a joint letter of protest to the Germany
head of Standard and Poor's, Torsten Hinrichs, expressing their outrage over alleged
plans by the US rating agency to force up prices, the Financial Times
Deutschland newspaper reported on Monday.
S & P
was expected to double some of its fees for the standard assessment of
companies' economic performance; the firms concerned say this would be
profiteering.
"Even
if S & P has offered to stretch the price hike over three years for exactly
the same services, the result would remain unacceptable," said the protest
note which was signed by managers from Volkswagen, Daimler, Siemens, Bayer,
Eon, RWE, Continental, Lufthansa, Deutsche Post, Henkel, Linde and Bertelsmann.
German
companies already paid the US rating agencies about half a million euros
annually, the letter said. The three main rating agencies, Standard and Poor's,
Moody's and Fitch, have been making most of their profits from the rating of
individual companies, and not so much from assessing the performance of whole
nations - which for them is more a question of image building.
A case for
market watchdogs?
Analysts
insist the protest letter is also meant as a signal for German and European
anti-trust authorities to step into action. German legal expert Torsten Köber
told the Financial Times Deutschland that it's not a problem in itself, if a
given provider of services - or a group of providers - dominates the market.
"But
things are different, if there's any proof of acquired market domination being
misused to the detriment of customers, for instance in a bid to force up
prices," Köber said.
The
dominant position of the three US rating agencies has long been a thorn in the
side of European governments, which have sought to set up an independent agency
on their own continent. But the attempts made so far have failed to secure
enough financial support from banks across the continent.
Even if a
European rating agency were to become a reality, it would take many years to
build up the solid reputation it would need before it could become a player
among equals.
Author: Hardy Graupner
Editor: Michael Lawton
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