Las agencias de rating y su contribución a la seguridad financiera

Résumé

The rating agencies, also known as ECAI’s, External Credit Assessment Institutions, have grown to a prime role inside the financial system. This was possible due to new financial regulations established during the last decades that included the assessments issued by rating agencies as a key point in the requirements made to the banking sector worldwide. The author analyses the important role of this relatively small companies for the financial stability and the significance given to them in the Spanish and European Security Strategies.