S. 1073: Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009

111th Congress · introduced 2009-05-19 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5617-5620)

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-05-19 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5617-5620) Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009

Plain summary

Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009 or the RATE Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review credit ratings and methodologies employed by each nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) to ensure that the NRSRO complies with its internal controls for determining credit ratings. Requires each NRSRO to establish establish and enforce governance procedures to manage conflicts of interest in accordance with SEC rules. Directs the SEC to issue specified rules to prohibit, or require the management and disclosure of, any conflicts of interest relating to the issuance of credit ratings by an NRSRO. Requires an NRSRO to review and revise a credit rating, if appropriate, in any case in which an employee of an obligor, issuer, or underwriter of a security or money market instrument was employed by an NRSRO and participated in determining such credit ratings for the obligor or the issuer during the one-year period preceding the date of the credit rating (look-back requirement). Requires each NRSRO to designate a compliance officer to perform specified duties. Directs the SEC to establish an office to administer SEC rules with respect to the practices of NRSROs in determining ratings to ensure that credit ratings NRSROs issue are accurate and not unduly influenced by conflicts of interest. Directs the SEC to require each NRSRO to disclose publicly information on initial ratings and subsequent changes in order to: (1) provide a gauge of the accuracy of ratings; and (2) allow users of credit ratings to compare performance of ratings by different NRSROs. Requires the SEC to promulgate rules on credit rating procedures and methodologies. Modifies the scienter requirement in a private action for money damages against an NRSRO to provide that it shall be sufficient for the complaint to state with particularity facts giving rise to a strong inference that the NRSRO knowingly or recklessly failed either to: (1) conduct a reasonable investigation of the rated security with respect to the factual elements relied upon by its own methodology for evaluating credit risk; or (2) obtain reasonable verification of such factual elements from other sources that it considered to be competent and that were independent of the issuer and underwriter. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on implementation of this Act, including: (1) the appropriateness of relying on ratings for use in federal, state, and local securities, banking regulations, and capital requirements determinations; and (2) the effect of liability in private actions and the scienter modification of this Act.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

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If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Rating Accountability and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2009

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] reported raising $3.7 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s1073.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>

Record fed-us-cong111-s1073 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111