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EU commissioner says ratings agencies "work for the dollar"
Jan 23, 2012, 12:36 GMT
Madrid - European Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani on Monday criticized ratings agencies, saying they 'worked for the dollar' by constantly downgrading credit ratings of European countries.
'I don't like the work of ratings agencies, because they do not do it transparently and have made many mistakes,' Tajani said in an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais.
Tajani accused ratings agencies of 'blackmail' by announcing downgrades shortly before the European Union was due to discuss a tax on financial transactions at a summit on January 30.
'I am in favour of imposing rules on them,' said Tajani, who is Italian.
He called for a European ratings agency to be established. All three existing main ratings agencies are US-based.
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