It is commonly considered that credit rating agencies play a key role in the securities markets because of their general perception as an arbiter of government debt. In fact, they have got too much power particularly after the wake of recent financial crisis. This research provides tentative proposals to reform the present normative regime of credit rating agencies. The analysis commences mapping the contours of the legal aspects of credit ratings services. Firstly, it addresses the major questions regarding the credit rating agencies modus operandi. Its relevance lies on the fact that credit ratings pressure the market confidence and influence both the investor decisions and market participants expectations. Secondly, it investigates whether ratings industry is defective in terms of information asymmetries, laxity in regulation, absence of transparency, conflicts of interest and limited competition and is likely to remain so even after the regulatory reforms introduced in the EU and the US have been implemented. For these reasons there is risk for a potential distortion or "market failure" of the financial sector. In this context, the current scholarly debate about which liability system works best in the credit rating agencies governance is considered. Far from providing conclusive results, this research suggests that a system of credit rating agencies with a single supervisory authority and a stringent rules-based approach could be more effective in protecting investors, while producing tangible benefits for the securities market.