According to the Washington Post, "The Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to announce Thursday it will hold a roundtable to discuss how to revamp the rules governing credit-rating agencies, according to people familiar with the matter.
This would be the first step toward addressing problems in the industry and the first public policy initiative taken by new SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro since she started at the commission.
Schapiro has raised concerns about credit-rating agencies, which are private firms that have been blessed by the SEC to judge the credit-worthiness of securities. Credit-rating firms gave high grades to many of the mortgage-related securities that turned out to be toxic and have wreaked havoc in the financial crisis.
The roundtable is scheduled for April 15. The three major credit- raters, including -- Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's, -- and others have been invited to speak.
Schapiro has criticized the way credit-rating firms are paid. Currently, the issuers of securities pay the firms to rate them, which Schapiro has called a conflict-of -interest. She has said it might be better for financial firms to contribute to a pot of money that would be used to pay for calculating ratings."
This would be the first step toward addressing problems in the industry and the first public policy initiative taken by new SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro since she started at the commission.
Schapiro has raised concerns about credit-rating agencies, which are private firms that have been blessed by the SEC to judge the credit-worthiness of securities. Credit-rating firms gave high grades to many of the mortgage-related securities that turned out to be toxic and have wreaked havoc in the financial crisis.
The roundtable is scheduled for April 15. The three major credit- raters, including -- Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's, -- and others have been invited to speak.
Schapiro has criticized the way credit-rating firms are paid. Currently, the issuers of securities pay the firms to rate them, which Schapiro has called a conflict-of -interest. She has said it might be better for financial firms to contribute to a pot of money that would be used to pay for calculating ratings."