The relevance of trust and legitimacy for the introduction of credit rating agency regulation in South Africa: an application of modernity theory
Date
2014
Authors
Rabinowitz, David
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Abstract
The 2007/2008 financial crisis and the role that credit rating agencies (CRA’s) played
leading up to the crisis precipitated the introduction of CRA regulation worldwide. By
using Giddens’s (1990. 1991) theory of modernity as a framework, this study
explores the rationale for the introduction of CRA regulation in South Africa (the
Credit Rating Services Act No. 24 of 2012), with a specific focus on trust and
legitimacy. The findings in this study suggest that while the introduction of new
regulation is a mechanism used to legitimise the capital system, it often has
limitations and unforeseen consequences. This study used detailed interviews with
some of South Africa’s leading experts on the credit rating industry to explain the
reasoning for South African CRA regulation. Lastly, this thesis adds to the scant
body of interpretive (and normative) research on the use of arms-length regulation in
modern governance discourse, and it is also the first research to explore CRA
regulation in the South African context.
Description
Keywords
Credit rating agencies, Credit Rating Services Act No. 24 of 2012, Legitimacy, Regulation, Trust