Freedom of speech no longer a defence for ratings agencies 07 September 2009 4:35PM Philip Bayley The credit rating agencies have long relied on the first amendment to the US constitution 'freedom of speech' defence to deter law suits over their credit opinions. However, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that a US judge had ruled that CRAs could not rely on this defence in all cases. The ruling came in the Cheyne Finance case where a credit rating had not been made public. A US District Judge ruled that the ratings of certain securities - those that were distributed to a limited number of investors - don't deserve freedom of speech protection. It is believed the ruling can be applied to rating opinions that are not widely promulgated, such as structured finance ratings, but not to corporate credit ratings that are widely disseminated. If this is the case, the litigation flood gates could be opened.