国三大主流信用评级机构都已对客户发出新的紧急通知：请 不要使用我们的信用评级。
总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)将在周三签署金融改革法案，使之成为法律。评级机构的奇怪请求，正是这场改革的第一个后果，并且引起了债券市场的混乱，一部分市场受影响陷入 了停顿。
标准普尔(Standard & Poor's)、穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody's Investors Service)和惠誉评级(Fitch Ratings)近几天相继发表声明，不准在新发行债券的相关文件中引用它们的评级。每家公司都说，它害怕自己承担起金融改革法律带来的新的法律义务。
根 据议员多德(Dodd)和弗兰克(Frank)发起的这场历史性立法，评级公司要为其信用评级的质量负责，这一条立即生效。评级公司说，在更好地理解它们 面临的法律风险以前，它们不允许债券发行人使用它们的评级。
此举事关重大，因为根据法律，一些债券，特别是那些以消费贷款为基础建立起来 的债券，必须要在正式文件中包含评级信息。这意味着，1.4万亿美元的房贷、车贷、助学贷款和信用卡贷款市场可能会因为债券发行放缓而受到影响。
本周还没有任何新的资产支持债券出售，而在上周共发行了30亿美元，反差十分明显。市场参与者说，新法律是发行速 度减缓的部分原因。
律师事务所Bingham McCutchen专攻资产支持证券的合伙人盖诺(Ed Gainor)说，目前我们已经陷入了停顿。
美国证券化论坛(American Securitization Forum)董事总经理多伊奇(Tom Deutsch)说，数家公司“无限期”搁置了债券的发行。美国证券化论坛代表的是资产支持债券市场。这类债券的基础资产包括汽车贷款、信用卡应收账款 等。
The nation's three dominant credit-ratings providers have made an urgent new request of their clients: Please don't use our credit ratings.
The odd plea is emerging as the first consequence of the financial overhaul that is to be signed into law by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. And it already is creating havoc in the bond markets, parts of which are shutting down in response to the request.
Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings are all refusing to allow their ratings to be used in documentation for new bond sales, each said in statements in recent days. Each says it fears being exposed to new legal liability created by the landmark Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
The new law will make ratings firms liable for the quality of their ratings decisions, effective immediately. The companies say that, until they get a better understanding of their legal exposure, they are refusing to let bond issuers use their ratings.
That is important because some bonds, notably those made up of consumer loans, are required by law to include ratings in their official documentation. That means the $1.4 trillion markets for mortgages, autos, student loans and credit cards, could be affected by a slowdown.
There have been no new asset-backed bonds put on sale this week, in stark contrast to last week, when $3 billion of issues were sold. Market participants say the new law is partly behind the slowdown.
'We are at a standstill right now,' Bingham McCutchen partner Ed Gainor, who specializes in asset-backed securities.
Several companies are shelving their bond offerings 'indefinitely,' according to Tom Deutsch, executive director of the American Securitization Forum, which represents the market for bonds backed by assets such as auto loans and credit cards.