SEC

The SEC claims Morningstar put investors at a risk when rating $30 billion in CMBS deals from 2015-2016. Morningstar defends its integrity and independence.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new enforcement chief abruptly resigned Wednesday, citing a complication in a case from her prior legal career, an early and significant setback in Chairman Gary Gensler’s tenure running the Wall Street regulator.

Gensler is poised to confront everything from the fallout of the GameStop trading frenzy to the collapse of Archegos Capital Management.

The nomination of Gary Gensler as chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission will now be voted on by the full Senate, but Rohit Chopra's nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains held up in the Senate Banking Committee.

The Banking Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on March 2 for Rohit Chopra and Gary Gensler. They are the administration's picks, respectively, to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC let analysts make undisclosed adjustments that resulted in higher ratings of mortgage-backed securities for issuers that paid for the rating, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit against the rating agency.

The nominees, strongly backed by progressive Democrats to lead two key Wall Street watchdogs, signal that the Biden administration is planning tough oversight after four years of light-touch policies under appointees of President Trump.

Kroll's $2 million settlement with the SEC over failing to adhere to credit-rating standards for CMBS and CLO bonds are fueling concerns that rosy credit grades are masking deeper structural problems with the securities exposed by COVID-19 related stresses, say critics.

Mortgage bankers are sounding alarms that the Federal Reserve's emergency purchases of bonds tied to home loans are unintentionally putting their industry at risk by triggering a flood of margin calls on hedges lenders have entered into to protect themselves from losses.

Regulators' oversight of the industry's switch to a new interest rate benchmark is expected to intensify as a key deadline approaches.