Redefining the credit rating role (TT Mar03 p17)

At the end of January, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) released a preliminary report on the role and functions of the ratings agencies in the US capital markets. The report1 was prepared in response to Congress’s concerns about the part rating agencies may have played in the corporate governance failures at Enron and other companies. The SEC was required to prepare the report under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002.