Reading Room Document

Mandatory Registration of Credit Rating Agencies

The Administration's proposal for mandatory registration of credit rating agencies—which would exempt an agency if (1) it does not provide ratings of securities in exchange for fees or other forms of compensation from the securities' issuers; and (2) it issues credit ratings only in any bona fide newspaper, news magazine or business or financial publication of general and regular circulation—would comply with the First Amendment. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-10-22-credit-rating/download.

October 22, 2009