European official to unveil bond-rating plan - WSJ
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - Europe's top markets official is set to unveil a plan to regulate bond-rating companies, a move that adds heft to similar efforts by U.S. officials to address causes of the year-long global credit crunch, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday.
Charlie McCreevy, the European Union commissioner for internal markets and services, plans to say in a speech Monday that current voluntary codes of conduct are a "toothless wonder", the paper said.
The European Union's executive body, the European Commission, is expected to review his proposals in coming months, the paper said.
The main ratings companies are Moody's Investors Service, which is owned by Moody's Corp (MCO.N), McGraw-Hill Cos' (MHP.N) Standard & Poor's, and France-based Fimalac SA's (LBCP.PA) Fitch Ratings.
Reuters was unable to reach McCreevy's spokespeople. Voice messages were unable to be left outside business hours, where a phone message cited a technical issue.
(Reporting by Megan Davies, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
