Gatekeeping by Information Intermediaries of Capital Markets : the examples of Statutory Audit, Credit Rating and Financial Analysis

这项研究旨在识别一种监管战略的潜在机会和风险，该战略依赖于资本市场私人信息中介的所谓把关功能。到目前为止，几个学科的讨论是完全分开进行的。这项研究将试图将洞察力联系起来。资本市场最相关的信息中介是审计师、评级机构和金融分析师。它们的信息服务有助于克服金融市场中供需双方之间的信息不对称。审计师报告中的资格、评级下调或金融分析师的卖出建议增加了发行人的融资成本。这是对发行人市场准入的一种私人控制(把关)。与金融监管机构相比，信息中介机构之间的私人竞争可以依赖于更好的信息，并且更具成本效益。例如，金融机构的监管资本是根据标的债务的信用评级来衡量的。这是将私人信息服务融入金融监管和主要监管任务的一个例子。企业突然倒闭以及最近金融市场危机的经历让我们认为，私人信息中介机构履行的把关职能存在结构性缺陷。到目前为止，法律反应相当被动，主要是由丑闻驱动的。研究的主要重点是单一形式的信息中介，而不是功能性社区。拟议的研究应将法律研究的现状与邻近学科的见解结合起来，特别是从跨学科的法律和经济学研究的角度。研究成果将有助于更可持续地理解信息中介，以期在未来进行更可持续的资本市场监管。

The research aims to identify the potential chances and risks of a regulatory strategy, which relies on the so called gatekeeping function of private information intermediaries of capital markets. So far, discussions in several disciplines have been conducted rather separately. The research will try to connect insights. The most relevant information intermediaries of capital markets are auditors, rating-agencies and financial analysts. Their information services help to overcome information asymmetries between the offer and the demand side in financial markets. A qualification in the auditor report, a rating downgrade or a financial analyst sell recommendation increase the finance costs of the issuer. This is a form of private control over the market access of an issuer (gatekeeping). Compared to financial supervisory authorities private competition between information intermediaries can rely on better information and be more cost efficient. For example, the regulatory capital of financial institutions is measured against credit ratings of the underlying debts. This is an example of an integration of private information services into financial supervision and into primarily regulatory tasks. Experiences with sudden corporate collapses and, last not least, with the recent financial market crisis let us assume that there are structural shortcomings of the gatekeeping function performed by private information intermediaries. Legal reactions so far have been rather reactive and mainly scandal driven. Research has been conducted with a main focus on single forms of information intermediation rather than on functional communalities. The proposed research shall combine the state of legal research with insights from neighbouring disciplines, especially from the perspective of interdisciplinary law and economics research. The research outcome shall contribute to a more sustainable understanding of information intermediation with a view to a more sustainable capital market regulation in the future.