Asian countries plan tougher oversight on western credit rating agencies

Meet in Tokyo to consider slashing reliance on raters. Asian countries discussed efforts to decrease their "mechanistic" reliance on western credit ratings and to strengthen oversight of rating agencies during a meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group for Asia. Since the Great Recession of 2008, there has been significant discussion on the key role of western credit rating agencies in triggering the crisis. Some countries strongly objected to the sovereign ratings assigned for them. Members of the Regional Consultative Group for Asia include Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.