Thread: SEC Bars Egan-Jones From Rating US & Other Govts For 18 Months - AAA suprime junk

SEC Bars Egan-Jones From Rating The US And Other Governments For 18 Months

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/22/2013 12:04 -0500

It is refreshing to see that the SEC has taken a much needed break from its daily escapades into midgetporn.xxx and is focusing on what is truly important, such as barring outspoken rating agency Egan-Jones from rating the US and other governments. From the SEC: "EJR and Egan made a settlement offer that the Commission determined to accept. Under the settlement, EJR and Egan agreed to be barred for at least 18 months from rating asset-backed and government securities issuers as an NRSRO. EJR and Egan also agreed to correct the deficiencies found by SEC examiners in 2012, and submit a report – signed by Egan under penalty of perjury — detailing steps the firm has taken." Hopefully the world is no longer insolvent in July of 2014 when this ban runs out.
From the SEC:

Egan-Jones and Founder Sean Egan Agree to 18-Month Bars from Rating Asset-Backed and Government Securities Issuers as NRSRO

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Egan-Jones Ratings Company (EJR) and its president Sean Egan have agreed to settle charges that they made willful and material misstatements and omissions when registering with the SEC to become a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) for asset-backed securities and government securities.

EJR and Egan consented to an SEC order that found EJR falsely stated in its registration application that the firm had been rating issuers of asset-backed and government securities since 1995 — when in truth the firm had not issued such ratings prior to filing its application. The SEC’s order also found that EJR violated conflict-of-interest provisions, and that Egan caused EJR's violations.

EJR and Egan made a settlement offer that the Commission determined to accept. Under the settlement, EJR and Egan agreed to be barred for at least 18 months from rating asset-backed and government securities issuers as an NRSRO. EJR and Egan also agreed to correct the deficiencies found by SEC examiners in 2012, and submit a report – signed by Egan under penalty of perjury — detailing steps the firm has taken.

“Accuracy and transparency in the registration process are essential to the Commission’s oversight of credit rating agencies,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “EJR and Egan’s misrepresentation of the firm’s actual experience rating issuers of asset-backed and government securities is a serious violation that undercuts the integrity of the SEC’s NRSRO registration process.”

Antonia Chion, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, added, “Provisions requiring NRSROs to retain certain records and address conflicts of interest are central to the SEC’s oversight of credit rating agencies. EJR’s violations of these provisions were significant and recurring.”

Egan and his firm were charged last year for falsely stating on EJR’s July 2008 application to the SEC that it had 150 outstanding asset-backed securities (ABS) issuer ratings and 50 outstanding government issuer ratings, and had been issuing credit ratings in these categories on a continuous basis since 1995. Egan signed and certified the application as accurate. According to the SEC’s order, EJR had not issued any ABS or government issuer ratings that were made available through the Internet or any other readily accessible means. Therefore, EJR did not meet the requirements for registration as a NRSRO in these classes. The Commission found that EJR continued to make material misrepresentations about its experience in subsequent annual certifications. EJR also made other misstatements in submissions to the SEC, and violated recordkeeping and conflict-of-interest provisions governing NRSROs — which are intended to safeguard the integrity of credit ratings.

EJR and Egan agreed to certain undertakings in the SEC’s order, including that they must conduct a comprehensive self-review and implement policies, procedures, practices, and internal controls that correct issues identified in the SEC’s order and in the 2012 examination of EJR conducted by the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings. EJR and Egan consented to the entry of the order without admitting or denying the findings. The order requires them to cease and desist from committing or causing future violations.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Stacy Bogert, Pamela Nolan, Alec Koch, and Yuri Zelinsky. The SEC’s litigation was led by James Kidney with assistance from Alfred Day and Ms. Nolan. The related examinations of EJR were conducted by staff from the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and Division of Trading and Markets. Examiners included Michele Wilham, Jon Hertzke, Mark Donohue, Kristin Costello, Scott Davey, Alan Dunetz, Nicole Billick, David Nicolardi, Natasha Kaden, and Abe Losice.

And to think of all the actions the SEC took against S&P, Moodys and Fitch for rating AAA-rated suprime junk weeks before the market imploded. Oh wait, the SEC did nothing there, because, you see, they filed their NRSRO applications without any glitches.

So be careful S&P: you are on thin ice here with your 2011 downgrade of the US, and likely next in the SEC's sights: better go through all those registration applications and make sure every comma is in place.

Now we look forward to news that Moodys and Fitch are about to get the Congressional medal of honor.


SEC Bars Egan-Jones From Rating The US And Other Governments For 18 Months | Zero Hedge

1. HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

2. When your broke your broke

3. AAA-rated suprime junk

and ...

4. HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

do what eva ya gotsta do to hide the next down grade to Junk~a~fied Status

Telling the truth is treason in an empire of lies.

“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.” - Gandhi

18 months? The whole world will know about this fiat shit pile by then.

phew.... hiding the truth does NOT fix the Problem

it only protects a Broke POTUS that only knows how to do "Pay Day Loans"

The Limerick King

Egan is getting a slap
Their ratings they're trying to scrap
Jones should have guessed
He'd be labelled a pest
By saying the US is crap!

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Honest Rating Agency Is Punished for Telling the Truth

Posted on January 23, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog

While Hooey-Peddling Agencies Are Rewarded

The big 3 government backed ratings agencies (technically known as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization) – S&P, Moody’s and Fitch – all committed massive fraud, which was a prime cause of the 2008 economic crash.

They took bribes for higher ratings, “sold their soul“, engaged in a “culture of covering up improper ratings“, and said that anyone who believed them was an idiot. And see this.

They also played games to avoid downgrading U.S. credit. Basically, they scratched the government’s back, so the government scratched their back.

On the other hand, government-backed rating agency Egan-Jones has consistently been more honest and forthright in its ratings of countries and corporations, and more aggressive than Moody’s or S&P in downgrading U.S. credit (and see this).

So guess which rating agency just got stripped for a year and a half of its government-backed rating agency status?

Yup … Egan-Jones.

Given that the government’s whole strategy in dealing with the financial crisis is to cover up the fraud (the “financial reform” legislation didn’t do anything much to reform rating agency shenanigans), honesty cannot go unpunished.

Postscript: It is possible that Egan-Jones did something wrong. But given that the main business model of S&P, Moody’s and Fitch is fraud – and Egan-Jones is in general much more objective and honest – it is clear that Egan-Jones was singled out and punished because of its cynicism as to the creditworthiness of the U.S. and its favored sons, such as the big banks.

Honest Rating Agency Is Punished for Telling the Truth - Washington's Blog