The Credit Rating Agency Reform Act (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 109–291 (text) (PDF)) is a United States federal law whose goal is to improve ratings quality for the protection of investors and in the public interest by fostering accountability, transparency, and competition in the credit rating agency industry.[1]
Enacted after being signed by President Bush on September 29, 2006,[1][2] it amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[2][3][4]
Critics had complained that the dominance of "the big three" rating agencies – Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, Moody's Investors Service and the smaller Fitch Rating—were in part responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis of 2006–8.[5] The agencies rated 98% of the trillions of dollars of home-mortgage oriented "structured investment" products. Hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of securities given the agencies highest—triple-A—rating were later downgraded to "junk" status,[6][7][8] and the writedowns and losses came to over half a trillion dollars.[9][10][11]
The Act permitted smaller, newer credit rating agencies to register as "statistical ratings organizations".[2][12] The intent of the U.S. Congress was to increase the choice for consumers by opening the market to a greater number of ratings agencies, and also to incent accurate and reliable ratings.[4][12]
^ abSen. Richard Shelby [R-AL]. "Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006 (2006; 109th Congress S. 3850)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved March 1, 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^Sen. Richard Shelby [R-AL]. "Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006 (2006; 109th Congress S. 3850)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved March 1, 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^Cite error: The named reference gordon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^$300 billion collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) issued in 2005–2007 (over half of the CDOs by value during that time period) that rating agencies gave their highest "triple-A" rating to, were written down to "junk" by the end of 2009. (source:The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report(PDF). National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. 2011. pp. 228–9.)
^McLean, Bethany and Joe Nocera. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, Portfolio, Penguin, 2010 (p.111)
^Barnett-Hart, Anna Katherine. "The Story of the CDO Market Meltdown: An Empirical Analysis" (PDF). March 19, 2009. Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved May 28, 2013. Overall, my findings suggest that the problems in the CDO market were caused by a combination of poorly constructed CDOs, irresponsible underwriting practices, and flawed credit rating procedures.
^Bloomberg-Smith-Bringing Down Ratings Let Loose Subprime Scourge| By Elliot Blair Smith | bloomberg.com| September 24, 2008
^Smith, Elliot Blair (September 24, 2008). "Bringing Down Wall Street as Ratings Let Loose Subprime Scourge". Bloomberg. Without those AAA ratings, the gold standard for debt, banks, insurance companies and pension funds wouldn't have bought the products. Bank writedowns and losses on the investments totaling $523.3 billion led to the collapse or disappearance of Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. and compelled the Bush administration to propose buying $700 billion of bad debt from distressed financial institutions.
^Bloomberg-Smith-Race to Bottom at Rating Agencies Secured Subprime Boom, Bust| By Elliot Blair Smith | bloomberg.com| September 25, 2008
^ abScheeringa, Daniel. "Dodd-Frank Credit Rating Agency Reform in the Crosshairs". Illinois Business Law Journal. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
and 23 Related for: Credit Rating Agency Reform Act information
The CreditRatingAgencyReformAct (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 109–291 (text) (PDF)) is a United States federal law whose goal is to improve...
A creditratingagency (CRA, also called a ratings service) is a company that assigns creditratings, which rate a debtor's ability to pay back debt by...
Information, Inc.; Morningstar CreditRatings, LLC; and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Under the CreditRatingAgencyReformAct, an NRSRO may be registered...
A nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) is a creditratingagency (CRA) approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...
Creditratingagencies and the subprime crisis is the impact of creditratingagencies (CRAs) in the American subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008 that...
Modernization Act of 2000 2002 – Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 2006 – CreditRatingAgencyReformAct of 2006 2010 – Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...
these lists several agencies and credit bureaus provide credit scoring of consumers. According to the Austrian Data Protection Act, consumers must opt-in...
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with other government agencies such as the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), to help prevent identity theft...
Social Credit System is an extension to the existing legal and financial creditrating system in China. Managed by the National Development and Reform Commission...
supervisory agencies reporting CRA data to the FFIEC FFIEC Interagency CRA Rating Search "White House Press Briefing on Community Reinvestment ActReform Progress"...
Accurate Credit Transactions Act), each legal U.S. resident is entitled to a free copy of his or her credit report from each credit reporting agency once...
Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It mandated standards-based education reform based on the premise...
used the HEROES Act to reform a student debt forgiveness program for public workers. In August 2022, the administration used the Act again to announce...
Secrecy Act, Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Provisions within other laws like the Credit and...
Implementation Act, Pub.L. 109-283 September 29, 2006: CreditRatingAgencyReformAct, Pub.L. 109-291 September 30, 2006: Iran Freedom and Support Act, Pub.L...
Global Information
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
