The research project concerns the legal status and the possible liability of Credit Rating Agencies. Credit Ratings has for a long time played  a significant role in the financial markets, where they have several important functions.

Credit ratings are traditionally used for informational purposes. By equalizing the informational asymmetry between e.g. an issuer of a certain security and a potential investor, the costs of both parties can be decreased. Credit ratings are also gaining a more important function as an instrument for various financial regulations. Over the past years an increasing amount of critic has been directed towards the Credit Rating Agencies. The reason for this critic is foremost their involvement in different financial crises and company bankruptcies over the past decades.

Hence, the main purpose of this project is to investigate and analyze the legal status of the Credit Rating Agencies from a Private Law and Regulatory point of view as well as to describe the possible liability of the Credit Rating Agencies towards e.g. an investor who has suffered an economic loss due to a careless credit rating.