Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and
R 385
Credit Rating Services Act, 2012 (Act No. 24 of 2012)Chapter 3 : Duties of Registered Credit Rating Agency10. Credit ratings |
| (1) | A registered credit rating agency must— |
| (a) | publish any credit rating or any decision to discontinue a credit rating impartially and timeously; |
| (b) | when publishing a credit rating— |
| (i) | state clearly and prominently any attributes and limitations of the credit rating; and |
| (ii) | provide an explanation of the key elements underlying the credit rating, so that an investor, a potential investor or a member of the public, as the case may be, is able to understand how a rating was arrived at; and |
| (c) | monitor credit ratings and regularly review its credit ratings. |
| (2) | A registered credit rating agency must, when issuing a credit rating for a structured finance instrument, ensure that the rating categories that are attributed to structured finance instruments are clearly differentiated, using an additional symbol which distinguishes them from rating categories used for any other entities, securities, financial instruments or issuers. |
| (3) | A registered credit rating agency must disclose its policies and procedures regarding unsolicited credit ratings. |
| (4) | A registered credit rating agency must refrain from issuing a credit rating if the lack of reliable data, the complexity of a new type of financial instrument or the quality of information available may result in a non-credible credit rating. |
