SEC Publishes Amendments to Exchange Act and Investment Company Act Removing References to Credit Ratings (Fed. Reg.)

The SEC has published amendments in the Federal Register, to the Securities Exchange Act ("Exchange Act") and the Investment Company Act, which remove certain references to the credit ratings of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations ("NRSROs") in certain rules and forms.

Specifically, the amendments apply to Exchange Act Rules 15c3-1 ("Net Capital Requirements for Brokers or Dealers") (and certain appendices), 15c3-3 ("Customer Protection - Reserves and Custody of Securities") and 10b-10 ("Confirmation of Transactions"), Investment Company Act Rule 5b-3 ("Acquisition of Repurchase Agreement or Refunded Security Treated as Acquisition of Underlying Securities"), and Forms N-1A, N-2 and N-3. SEC Commissioner Gallagher stated that the removal of the NRSRO credit rating references is "a very important step towards addressing a key cause of the 2008 Financial Crisis."

The amendments under the Exchange Act are effective on July 7, 2014. The amendments under the Investment Company Act are effective on February 7, 2014, with a compliance date of July 7, 2014.

See: 79 FR 1522 (Exchange Act Amendments); 79 FR 1316 (Investment Company Act Amendments).See generally: SEC Rule Calendar and IA/ICA Rule Calendar (accessible to Cabinet subscribers only).Related news:SEC Removes References to NRSRO Ratings in Certain Rules and Forms (with Lofchie Comment) (December 27, 2013); SEC Issues Annual Staff Reports on Credit Rating Agencies (December 24, 2013).