Someone didn't learn anything from the 2008 crash and the issue of private ratings agencies...
Privatize safety checks and businesses will shop around to get a certification.
Believe it or not, capitalism doesn't solve every problem.
The whole banking and financial system at that level has its tendrils wrapped so firmly around the gov't (and vice versa) that a failure there is hardly an indictment of free market principles.
But wasn't part of the problem that there was competition among them? They were handing out favorable(fraudulent) ratings becuase they were trying to poach customers from the others?
It doesn't solve the problem of the combination of gov't corruption and private sector corruption, so private safety regulators/inspectors would never be able to keep anything safe.
By stamping shit debt as AAA, they were providing a wonderful level of service for their customers -- the bankers.