Credit Rating Agencies Made Improvements In Oversight, Other Areas, SEC Staff Reports

In its annual report on credit rating agencies, issued Dec. 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff recommended improvements in several areas, including the use of affiliates in the rating process, managing conflicts of interest and adhering to policies and procedures for determining credit ratings.

However, the staff said it saw improvements in the areas of compliance resources documentation and resources for criteria and model validation, document retention and management oversight.

The same day, the staff submitted a separate report to Congress detailing the state of competition, transparency, and conflicts of interest at nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.

“These reports ...