Historically the big three agencies make money by charging a fee to the companies/entities they're rating. My understanding is that it's always been that way &

Historically the big three agencies make money by charging a fee to the companies/entities they're rating. My understanding is that it's always been that way & things have not materially changed since 2007. A good question to ask here is to what extent institutional debt buyers continue to rely on these ratings. More background: https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2014/10/09/impact-of-the-dodd-frank-act-on-credit-ratings/ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2014/10/09/impact-of-the-dod...