Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 120.djvu/1359

 120 STAT. 1328

PUBLIC LAW 109–291—SEPT. 29, 2006

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 USC 78o–7 note.

VerDate 14-DEC-2004

13:05 Jul 12, 2007

(a) SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.—Section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: ‘‘(60) CREDIT RATING.—The term ‘credit rating’ means an assessment of the creditworthiness of an obligor as an entity or with respect to specific securities or money market instruments. ‘‘(61) CREDIT RATING AGENCY.—The term ‘credit rating agency’ means any person— ‘‘(A) engaged in the business of issuing credit ratings on the Internet or through another readily accessible means, for free or for a reasonable fee, but does not include a commercial credit reporting company; ‘‘(B) employing either a quantitative or qualitative model, or both, to determine credit ratings; and ‘‘(C) receiving fees from either issuers, investors, or other market participants, or a combination thereof. ‘‘(62) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STATISTICAL RATING ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘nationally recognized statistical rating organization’ means a credit rating agency that— ‘‘(A) has been in business as a credit rating agency for at least the 3 consecutive years immediately preceding the date of its application for registration under section 15E; ‘‘(B) issues credit ratings certified by qualified institutional buyers, in accordance with section 15E(a)(1)(B)(ix), with respect to— ‘‘(i) financial institutions, brokers, or dealers; ‘‘(ii) insurance companies; ‘‘(iii) corporate issuers; ‘‘(iv) issuers of asset-backed securities (as that term is defined in section 1101(c) of part 229 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this paragraph); ‘‘(v) issuers of government securities, municipal securities, or securities issued by a foreign government; or ‘‘(vi) a combination of one or more categories of obligors described in any of clauses (i) through (v); and ‘‘(C) is registered under section 15E. ‘‘(63) PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STATISTICAL RATING ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘person associated with’ a nationally recognized statistical rating organization means any partner, officer, director, or branch manager of a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (or any person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions), any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or any employee of a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. ‘‘(64) QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYER.—The term ‘qualified institutional buyer’ has the meaning given such term in section 230.144A(a) of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto.’’. (b) APPLICABLE DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act—

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