Press contact:

James O’Neill 212-854-1584 Cell: 646-596-2935

 

September 26, 2007 (NEW YORK) – Columbia Law School professor John Coffee told the Senate Banking Committee today that more transparency could be created for the credit rating industry if the Securities and Exchange Commission started to calculate default rates for rating agencies and make the information public. Coffee said rating agencies that are especially inaccurate could have their SEC recognition revoked.

 

Coffee made his suggestion during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the subprime mortgage crisis. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox also testified at the hearing, as well as several credit rating agency executives. Cox told the committee that the SEC is looking at whether Wall Street firms pressured the rating agencies to assign high rankings to subprime mortgage bonds.

 

For Coffee’s full testimony, click here.

 

Coffee’s comments were included in coverage of the hearing by CNNMoney.com, the Associated Press and The Deal.com.

 

John Coffee, the Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, is knownas one of the preeminent thinkers on corporate law and corporate governance.He has been listed by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States, and was recently named one of the 100 most influential people in corporate governance by Directorship Magazine.

 

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law.