Federal regulators on Wednesday adopted new rules designed to stem conflicts of interest and provide more transparency for Wall Street's credit-rating industry, widely faulted for its role in the subprime mortgage debacle and ensuing credit crisis.
The action by the five-member Securities and Exchange Commission was another government response touching on the global financial crisis set off by mortgage securities. The commissioners voted unanimously at a public meeting to adopt the new rules, most of which will take effect in about 60 days.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox called adoption of the new rules ''a significant and substantive action'' that affects every aspect of the rating agency business and will give the investing public access to a trove of new information while promoting needed competition in the industry. After nearly a century of policing itself, the industry came under SEC oversight through a 2007 law.
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