I still think ratings agencies, if their ratings are to be required, should have money where their mouth is. There are a number of ways this could work; one is

I still think ratings agencies, if their ratings are to be required, should have money where their mouth is. There are a number of ways this could work; one is they issue a contract redeemable for the difference between their predicted performance of a given company and the actual performance. If they're as good at this as they think, they get another revenue stream. If not, the victims of their conflicts of interest have some insurance.