3.0.0 3214 2023-01-11T13:18:29Z 2023-01-11T13:18:29Z House H HR 2009-07-14 111 hsba00 Financial Services Committee House Standing Referred to 2009-07-14T14:33:41Z Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 111 1073 S 2009-05-19 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5617-5620) Identical bill CRS 2009-07-14 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsba00 Financial Services Committee 2009-07-14 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2009-07-14 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress R000583 Rep. Rooney, Thomas J. [R-FL-16] Thomas Rooney R FL J. 16 N Finance and Financial Sector Administrative law and regulatory procedures Business ethics Business records Civil actions and liability Congressional oversight Credit and credit markets Financial services and investments Government information and archives Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Finance and Financial Sector 00 2009-07-14 Introduced in House 2009-09-21T19:12:04Z Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 or the RATE Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review credit ratings and methodologies employed by each nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) to ensure that the NRSRO complies with its internal controls for determining credit ratings.

Requires each NRSRO to establish establish and enforce governance procedures to manage conflicts of interest in accordance with SEC rules.

Directs the SEC to issue specified rules to prohibit, or require the management and disclosure of, any conflicts of interest relating to the issuance of credit ratings by an NRSRO.

Requires an NRSRO to review and revise a credit rating, if appropriate, in any case in which an employee of an obligor, issuer, or underwriter of a security or money market instrument was employed by an NRSRO and participated in determining such credit ratings for the obligor or the issuer during the one-year period preceding the date of the credit rating (look-back requirement).

Requires each NRSRO to designate a compliance officer to perform specified duties.

Directs the SEC to establish an office to administer SEC rules with respect to the practices of NRSROs in determining ratings to ensure that credit ratings NRSROs issue are accurate and not unduly influenced by conflicts of interest.

Directs the SEC to require each NRSRO to disclose publicly information on initial ratings and subsequent changes in order to: (1) provide a gauge of the accuracy of ratings; and (2) allow users of credit ratings to compare performance of ratings by different NRSROs.

Requires the SEC to promulgate rules on credit rating procedures and methodologies.

Modifies the scienter requirement in a private action for money damages against an NRSRO to provide that it shall be sufficient for the complaint to state with particularity facts giving rise to a strong inference that the NRSRO knowingly or recklessly failed either to: (1) conduct a reasonable investigation of the rated security with respect to the factual elements relied upon by its own methodology for evaluating credit risk; or (2) obtain reasonable verification of such factual elements from other sources that it considered to be competent and that were independent of the issuer and underwriter.

Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on implementation of this Act, including: (1) the appropriateness of relying on ratings for use in federal, state, and local securities, banking regulations, and capital requirements determinations; and (2) the effect of liability in private actions and the scienter modification of this Act.

]]> Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 Display Title Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 Official Title as Introduced To provide for credit rating reforms, and for other purposes. Introduced in House IH Short Titles as Introduced Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 Short Titles as Introduced RATE Act Introduced in House 2009-07-14T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-111hr3214ih/xml/BILLS-111hr3214ih.xml 2009-07-14 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.