124 STAT. 1878 PUBLIC LAW 111–203—JULY 21, 2010 ‘‘(C) INSPECTION REPORTS.—The Commission shall make available to the public, in an easily understandable format, an annual report summarizing— ‘‘(i) the essential findings of all examinations con- ducted under subparagraph (A), as deemed appropriate by the Commission; ‘‘(ii) the responses by the nationally recognized statistical rating organizations to any material regu- latory deficiencies identified by the Commission under clause (i); and ‘‘(iii) whether the nationally recognized statistical rating organizations have appropriately addressed the recommendations of the Commission contained in pre- vious reports under this subparagraph. ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall— ‘‘(A) establish, by rule, fines, and other penalties applicable to any nationally recognized statistical rating organization that violates the requirements of this section and the rules thereunder; and ‘‘(B) issue such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section. ‘‘(q) TRANSPARENCY OF RATINGS PERFORMANCE.— ‘‘(1) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The Commission shall, by rule, require that each nationally recognized statistical rating organization publicly disclose information on the initial credit ratings determined by the nationally recognized statistical rating organization for each type of obligor, security, and money market instrument, and any subsequent changes to such credit ratings, for the purpose of allowing users of credit ratings to evaluate the accuracy of ratings and compare the perform- ance of ratings by different nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The rules of the Commission under this subsection shall require, at a minimum, disclosures that— ‘‘(A) are comparable among nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, to allow users of credit ratings to compare the performance of credit ratings across nationally recognized statistical rating organizations; ‘‘(B) are clear and informative for investors having a wide range of sophistication who use or might use credit ratings; ‘‘(C) include performance information over a range of years and for a variety of types of credit ratings, including for credit ratings withdrawn by the nationally recognized statistical rating organization; ‘‘(D) are published and made freely available by the nationally recognized statistical rating organization, on an easily accessible portion of its website, and in writing, when requested; ‘‘(E) are appropriate to the business model of a nation- ally recognized statistical rating organization; and ‘‘(F) each nationally recognized statistical rating organization include an attestation with any credit rating it issues affirming that no part of the rating was influenced by any other business activities, that the rating was based solely on the merits of the instruments being rated, and Public information. Fines. Penalties. Public information.
