“Since the trauma of the Greek crisis, do sovereign credit rating agencies still influence the financial markets?”

Article by Valérie Lelièvre published on 15 July 2026 in The Conversation – original title: « Depuis le traumatisme de la crise grecque, les agences de notation souveraine influencent‑elles encore les marchés financiers ? »

Abstract: “Rating agencies are regularly accused of lacking transparency, producing biased assessments or exacerbating financial crises. Fifteen years after the Greek crisis, which crystallised the criticism levelled at them, is their influence still as significant? And what is their role?

Sovereign ratings promise transparency and crisis prevention. Fifteen years after the eurozone shock, credit rating agencies continue to face the same criticisms: opaque models, persistent biases, and the exacerbation of crises.

Yet they remain key players in government financing and the assessment of sovereign risk, and continue to influence the decisions of investors, banks and regulators.

This article, based on a study conducted with Mireille Jaeger, examines how their role has evolved since the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.”

Further reading: Valérie Lelièvre, Mireille Jaeger. Sovereign Debt Ratings: An Overview, Chapter 8 in *The Palgrave Handbook of Public Debt and Policy Mix*, Macmillan, forthcoming (2026). Palgrave Macmillan. The Palgrave Handbook of Public Debt and Policy Mix, Macmillan,, in press, Palgrave Handbook, 9783032125071. ⟨hal-05559652⟩