On the recordJuly 25, 2013
I rise today to discuss a problem I have spoken about many times over the past 3 years, beginning with debate on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill. That bill, which Congress passed in July 2010, contained a provision I authored with my Republican colleague Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Our provision gave the Securities and Exchange Commission the authority to issue rules to address the conflicts of interest inherent in the credit rating industry--conflicts of interest which contributed mightily to our recent financial collapse and which have continued to plague that industry through today. I am speaking about this issue again because even though the conflicts continue to put our economy at risk, the SEC still has not proposed meaningful reforms. The SEC has studied the issue, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has studied the issue, and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has studied the issue. Now it is time to move forward and take action on the issue. Let me start off by briefly reminding everyone what this conflict of interest is about and why it is important. In the years leading up to 2008 financial collapse the credit rating agencies were enjoying massive profits and booming business.…
