\\server05\productn\N\NYL\13-2\NYL201.txt unknown Seq: 1 28-APR-10 11:35 ON REGULATING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THE CREDIT RATING INDUSTRY Lynn Bai* Introduction ................................................ 254 R I. Conflicts of Interest in the Credit Rating Industry ..... 260 R A. Conflicts of Interest at the Analyst Level ......... 260 R B. Conflicts of Interest at the Rating Agency Level . 261 R C. The “Reputation Hypothesis” .................... 265 R II. The Current Regulation of Conflicts of Interest ....... 270 R A. Regulations Targeting Conflicts of Interest at the Rating Analyst Level ............................ 272 R B. Regulations Targeting Conflicts of Interest at the Rating Agency Level ............................ 277 R C. Other Provisions Pertinent to the Management and Control of Conflicts of Interest .................. 283 R D. Civil Liabilities of Credit Rating Agencies ....... 286 R III. Improving the Current Regulation of Conflicts of Interest ............................................. 292 R A. The Infeasibility of an Outright Prohibition of Large Subscriber Influence and the Issuer-Pay Business Model ................................. 294 R B. Improving the Disclosure-Based Regulation by Enhancing Ex Ante Disclosures .................. 296 R C. Improving the Disclosure-Based Regulation by Sharpening the Disclosure of Performance Statistics ........................................ 301 R Conclusion ................................................. 312 R * Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati College of Law, Clifton Avenue & Calhoun Street, Cincinnati, OH 45221. Phone number: (513) 556-0194. Email: lin.
[email protected]. The author thanks Adam Bennett, Jennifer Lewis, Laura Railing, Andy Smith, Hongjun Wang, Laurel Wei, and Jing Zhang for providing research assistance for different parts of this paper. The author is responsible for all mistakes. 253 \\server05\productn\N\NYL\13-2\NYL201.txt unknown Seq: 2 28-APR-10 11:35 254 LEGISLATION AND PUBLIC POLICY [Vol.