評級機構是時候要改革了。

美國證券及監察委員會在上星期靜悄悄地發表了一份報告。該份報告重點介紹了評級機構在次按風暴前並沒有有效客觀地評估審核所有樓按相關的投資產品。其中更列出一些電郵，內容拍案叫絕。這亦再次證實在金錢利益誘使下，客觀分析及專業操守可隨時拋諸腦後。現列若干精釆部份以警世:

In one email, an S&P analytical staffer emailed another that a mortgage or structured-finance deal was "ridiculous" and that "we should not be rating it." The other S&P staffer replied that "we rate every deal," adding that "it could be structured by cows and we would rate it."

An analytical manager in the collateralized debt obligations group at S&P told a senior analytical manager in a separate email that "rating agencies continue to create" an "even bigger monster -- the CDO market. Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters.;O)"

"We are meeting with your group this week to discuss adjusting criteria for rating CDO's of real-estate assets...because of the ongoing threat of losing deals," S&P commercial mortgage analyst Gale Scott wrote to colleagues in August 2004.

好明顯，為了生意，criteria係可以"adjusted"嘅，看來，評級機構是時候要改革了。