Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you again for the supplementary question. Our approach has been to ensure that the approach of credit rating agencies in Australia is rigorous and underpinned by proper analysis and that conflicts of interest are identified. Whether the credit rating agencies are supplying a rating of governments or of private institutions that rely on this information, particularly the public, the investors, need to have confidence in the rating.

Our approach has been to license these rating agencies. The independent regulator, ASIC, are finalising the reporting requirements but, as I have already indicated, they will be required to give a compliance report. It will be internationally coordinated. The international supervisory body, IOSCO, based in Spain, have come up with some minimum standards and it will be checked periodically by the regulator for its validity. (Time expired)