One of the bond rating agencies ran into controversy when it began rating bonds of some companies without their approval. Many of the companies whose bonds were rated in this manner were upset by this. Why do you think a company would be unhappy to receive a "free" bond rating?

When ratings agencies rate bonds, they do so by relying on information provided by the company. Absent this information, the rating agency must rely on publicly available information, and may not have as clear a picture of the firm as it would if it received information directly from the company. Also, some firms argued that the rating agency was harsher with its ratings when the company was not compensating them for providing this service. As a result, some of the firms argued that they were essentially being blackmailed into buying a rating service in order to prevent poor ratings for their bonds. Also, for whatever reason, some firms may not wish to be rated by more than one agency and may purchase only one rating. If another rating agency steps in without being requested to do so, you could end up with crossover bonds.