International credit rating agencies assess the credit worthiness of sovereign and nonsovereign institutions and publish credit information of these institutions as well as their debt products. With the internationalization of the U.S. financial market, the biggest three U.S. credit rating agencies perform transnational standardization in the bond market, and they regulate the capital flow globally. These three rating agencies are equipped with the authority of private regulation in the international financial market. The authority of the rating agencies rests in the structural role the rating agencies play in the international financial architecture, and this architecture is a product of the internationalization of the U.S. financial system. China is an important actor in international financial governance, and China could adopt various measures in contributing to a more equitable and reasonable order of international financial governance.

credit rating agency; credit rating; private regulation; international financial governance