Rating agencies defend role in subprime crisis

STRASBOURG, France Jan 14 (Reuters) - Credit rating agencies defended their role on Monday in the credit squeeze that began in August, saying some investors expected too much from their ratings.

"We recognise some investor had been using ratings inappropriately," Barbara Ridpath, head of ratings services at Standard & Poor's, told the European Parliament.

"Some investors did not fully appreciate that rating agencies only cover credit risk," Ridpath said.

Credit rating agencies have been criticised by France, Germany and the European Commission for being too slow to warn investors of the risks of buying U.S. subprime-related products.

Frederic Drevon of Moody's, a rival credit rating agency, told the EU assembly's economic affairs committee, there were no calls from users for a separate rating system for structured products, found at the heart of the recent subprime related credit squeeze. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Marcin Grajewski)