Credit rating agencies are supposed to be an independent organization that gives the investor an idea about how credit-worthy the company is. In many ways, they are like companies that produce credit scores for individuals, but their do it for large corporations. But their role has changed over time. The question below pertains to credit rating agency. How did credit rating agency make money when they first started in early 1900s? How did their role change over time? Were they effective monitors in the past? How has their monitoring been compromised? Why do credit rating agencies not get prosecuted for giving false sense of security to the investors?