The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously on Wednesday to propose amendments to its rules that would remove credit ratings as one of the conditions for companies seeking to use short-form registration when registering securities for public sale.

As the SEC notes, Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires federal agencies to review how existing regulations rely on credit ratings and remove such references from their rules as appropriate. Public comments on the SEC's proposal are due by March 28, 2011.

“Over-reliance on credit ratings has been one of the factors cited as contributing to the financial crisis,” said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro (left). “I look forward to hearing from companies that are currently eligible for short-form registration as to whether there are alternative criteria that would preserve their eligibility.”

Read the complete AdvisorOne.com story, “SEC Proposes to Remove References to Credit Ratings Agencies.”