Regulating Credit Rating Agencies?

The world of credit rating industry is fascinating. Starting from the rise of credit rating agencies into their power and their subsequent involvement in one of the worst collapses of financial markets in modern history made them publicly visible. The world became aware of almost unlimited power of simple words, which could and still can be spoken by one of the agencies and which could and still can heavily influence the markets and development of a country with almost immediate effect. The question is - could these agencies be ever regulated and is it necessary to do so? It is clear that although the attempts to regulate the CRAs delivered some portion of success, their effectiveness and impact will be visible only after some time. Many legislators and regulators tried and only time will show whether their decisions were right or wrong.