Madrid. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined six rating agencies, including Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings and Fitch, for “significant deficiencies” in maintaining and protecting their electronic communications.
Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings will thus have to pay 20 million dollars, Fitch 8 million dollars, AM Best Ratings Services one million dollars, HR Ratings de México 250 thousand dollars and Demotech another 100 thousand dollars.
All of the companies have admitted to the allegations and have acknowledged that their conduct violated the record-keeping provisions of the legal system. The cumulative civil penalties amount to more than $49 million.
The SEC said firms have already begun implementing improvements to their policies and procedures to address these violations.
In addition, each agency, except AM Best and Demotech, will be required to have an internal reviewer oversee the remediation process. AM Best and Demotech will be exempt for their efforts to address the identified deficiencies and for cooperating with the SEC during the investigation.
“We have repeatedly warned that failure to maintain and retain records can hamper the ability of the staff to ensure that firms comply with their obligations and the ability of the Commission to hold accountable those that fail to do so, often at the expense of investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
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– 2024-09-05 08:12:14
