The world needs more than three major credit ratings agencies because their actions exacerbate market swings, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was quoted on Tuesday as saying.
"The ratings agencies in general tend to amplify rises and falls in financial markets. You can see it still today very visibly. That goes against financial stability," he said in an interview with French daily Liberation.
"It is probably appropriate not to continue to have a worldwide oligopoly of three agencies. But the underlying issue is to attenuate or cancel out this amplification to which the rating agencies contribute."
He also said that financial markets had underestimated the capacity of the eurozone to react to the crisis on sovereign debt.
"It would be a big mistake to underestimate Europe and in particular the eurozone," he said.
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