The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission barred Egan-Jones Ratings Company from rating some of the securities, the SEC reports in its official press release.
The restrictions imposed by the SEC are applied to the U.S. government bond ratings and also of those issued by states and local authorities. Egan-Jones is not allowed to estimate mortgage securities as well. The company agreed with the limitations of the regulator under the settlement agreement. The SEC accused the agency of providing misleading reports in 2008 and releasing insufficiently justified ratings. Egan-Jones neither confirmed nor denied the information about the violations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Sean Egan, the president of Egan-Jones did not comment on the agreement with the SEC. Previously, he has repeatedly spoken out in defense of his company and the reliability of its ratings.
Egan-Jones is one of the nine ratings agencies registered with the SEC. It is known for its controversial estimates. The company is not included in the so-called “Big Three” global credit rating agencies - Fitch Ratings, Moody's и Standard & Poor's. There are five credit analysts in Egan-Jones, whereas S&P employs more than 1,400 experts and Moody’s - more than 1,200.
