The battle over market share for CMBS (Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities) is heating up and Julius Kroll, a relative newcomer lambasts the market leaders over standards.  According to a report in the Financial Times on November 6th, Kroll claims that ratings of the three largest rating agencies lack of substance.  Having been in the ratings business just over two years Kroll had outstanding ratings in total of 17,278 of which 40 were asset backed securities.  S&P has 1,2 million of which 108,400 were asset based securities,  Moody’s has 998,878 of which 93,913 were asset backed securities.   The large rating agencies appear to have a substantial lead in experience, nevertheless Mr. Kroll seems to think that the market leaders do not conduct sufficient research to support their rating processes.   Source:  Financial Times