From mortgage-backed securities to municipal bonds, sovereign debt to collateralized debt obligations, ratings agencies have notoriously mispriced risk over the last decade, and nearly all of us have paid the consequence.

FORBES: AAA Ratings Are A Grim Fairy Tale

Collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and other structured finance products trade over-the-counter rather than on an exchange, at least in the United States.

FORBES: Credit Crisis: Where Was The SEC?