Guidance on New SEC Rating Agency Expert Consent Requirement
With President Obama signing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law today, a new requirement has become effective that generally requires filing of written consents from credit rating agencies with the SEC where any portion of a credit rating agency report or opinion is quoted or summarized in a registration statement or prospectus. In light of the conflict between this new consent requirement and preliminary positions adopted by the leading credit ratings agencies not to deliver consents, we have collaborated with a number of other law firms and have spoken with the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission with a view to developing guidance with respect to the application of the new consent requirement. This guidance is set forth in the white paper appended to our memorandum.