Credit rating governance : global credit gatekeepers

1. Introduction to the world of credit rating -- 2. Credit rating agencies : who they are and what they do -- 3. The big 3 : the global credit market gatekeepers -- 4. Credit rating agencies' methodologies, metrics and rating accuracy -- 5. Ordinal credit ratings : the threat to rating accuracy -- 6. Credit ratings critics : telling it like it is -- 7. Credit rating agencies : external monitoring -- 8. Credit rating agencies : internal monitoring -- 9. Agencies' rating quality control systems -- 10. The Cha6 : shall they present serious challenge to big 3? -- 11. Critical perspective and concluding remarks.