IOSCO issued final code of conduct fundamentals for CRAs

24 March 2015

The report includes significant revisions and updates.

The revisions to the IOSCO CRA Code are designed:

• To strengthen the IOSCO CRA Code by enhancing provisions regarding protecting the integrity of the credit rating process, managing conflicts of interest, providing transparency, and safeguarding non-public information
• To strengthen the IOSCO CRA Code by adding measures regarding governance, training, and risk management
• To improve the clarity of the IOSCO CRA Code by adding definitions of key terms and revising existing definitions, updating terminology, restructuring existing provisions to better group them thematically, and eliminating extraneous text

The new IOSCO CRA Code is intended to work in harmony with CRA registration and oversight programs, and to continue operating as the international standard for CRA self-governance. The revisions result, in part, from the experience of IOSCO members in supervising CRAs. They also are informed by the work of the IOSCO Committee on Credit Rating Agencies, including the survey report describing the key risk controls established by CRAs to promote the integrity of the credit rating process and the procedures established to manage conflicts of interest.

The Code is intended to offer a set of robust, practical measures as a guide to and a framework for CRAs with respect to protecting the integrity of the rating process, ensuring that issuers and users of credit ratings, including investors, are treated fairly, and safeguarding confidential material information provided them by issuers.

Full press release

Full Code

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