Rated

The ratings are real. One number, 0 to 100, determines your place in society. Earn a high rating, and the world is yours for the taking. But fall to zero, and you may as well cease to exist. Societies thrive on order, and the Rating System is the ultimate symbol of organized social mobility. The higher it soars, the more valued you are. The lower it plummets, the harder you must work to improve yourself. For the students at the prestigious Maplethorpe Academy, every single thing they do is reflected in their ratings, updated daily and available for all to see.But when an act of vandalism sullies the front doors of the school, it sets off a chain reaction that will shake the lives of six special students -- and the world beyond.

Two teen vigilantes set off on an action-packed investigation to expose corruption and deliver justice in Valiant Ladies, Melissa Grey's YA historical fiction novel inspired by real seventeenth century Latinx teenagers known as the Valiant Ladies of Potosí. By day Eustaquia “Kiki” de Sonza and Ana Lezama de Urinza are proper young seventeenth century ladies. But when night falls, they trade in their silks and lace for swords and muskets, venturing out into the vibrant, bustling, crime-ridden streets of Potosí in the Spanish Empire's Viceroyalty of Peru. They pass their time fighting, gambling, and falling desperately in love with one another. Then, on the night Kiki's engagement to the Viceroy's son is announced, her older brother—heir to her family’s fortune—is murdered. The girls immediately embark on a whirlwind investigation that takes them from the lowliest brothels of Potosí to the highest echelons of the Spanish aristocracy. Praise for Valiant Ladies: “Ana and Kiki are the sword lesbians of my dreams. This is the queer Latina historical fantasy you didn't know you wanted until you got it—and then you'll want more.” —Sam Maggs, author of The Unstoppable Wasp: Built on Hope "Grey’s actionpacked love story offers a fresher, more nuanced take on The Three Musketeers, with a fastpaced plot and well-developed characters... Kiki and Ana are not the traditional demure ladies that swoon at the slightest provocation of violence; rather, they are the vigilante heroines that every patriarchy needs." -- Booklist, starred review “Valiant Ladies brings the remarkable lives of two forgotten women to vivid, riotous life. Delightfully ahistorical, terribly romantic (have you ever shipped sword lesbians harder??), and all steeped in vigilante justice hell-bent on taking down a violent patriarchy—there’s only one word for it: badass.” —Mackenzi Lee, author of the New York Times–bestselling The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

Credit rating agencies have been criticized for their role in the financial crisis by understating credit risk. The US subprime mortgage crisis highlighted the systemic relevance of the rating agencies and the deficiencies in their activities; this led to an international consensus to regulate the rating business. Written by those involved in developing European Legislation, this book explains EU Regulation in the context of global initiatives undertaken by the G-20, the Financial Stability Board, and IOSCO to address failures within the rating industry. Through an in-depth analysis of the EU Regulation's requirements on governance, conflicts of interest, methodologies, and transparency, the book provides a clear explanation of how rating agencies operate and how the identified failures have been addressed. Moreover, it examines the supervisory and enforcement powers of ESMA, the EU authority in charge of the registration and oversight of rating agencies. This is complemented with an analysis of guidance from supervisors (ESMA and EBA), IOSCO's recommendations, and US legislation. The book discusses possible new regulatory developments in areas such as the agencies' business model, competition, civil liability, and ratings of sovereign debt, in light of the Euro debt sovereign crisis. It concludes with the authors' support for an enhanced regulatory and oversight coordination at international level and for the implementation of the necessary steps to reduce the existing over-reliance on ratings.

øŠAline Darbellay analyzes the obvious system relevance of credit rating agencies in depth and assesses the possible options for regulatory responses to this systemic issue. Thereby, the book is based on a fruitful comparative legal approach and formul

Credit rating agencies play an essential role in the modern financial system and are relied on by creditors and investors on the market. In the recent financial crisis, their power and reliability were often questioned, yet a simple rating downgrade could threaten to bankrupt a whole country. This book examines the governance of credit rating agencies, as expressed by their ability to fairly, ethically and consistently assign higher rates to issuers having lesser default risks. However, factors such as the drive for increased revenue and market share, the inadequate business model, the inadequate methodology of assessing risk, opacity and inadequate internal monitoring have all been identified as critical governance failures for credit agencies. This book explores these issues, and proposes some potential solutions and improvements. This will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of corporate finance, finance, financial economics, risk management, investment management, and banking.