At least one rating agency was subdued in its response to a plan that had the membership of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners looking into developing its own rating agency.

State regulators are researching the idea of creating a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization, said Roger Sevigny, New Hampshire insurance commissioner and president-elect of the Kansas City, Mo., based NAIC.

“Moody's believes the markets have benefited from the diversity of information that results from a robust and competitive marketplace for credit analysis, and has long supported increased competition and greater transparency,” Tony Mirenda, a spokesman for Moody's Investors Service, New York, said in a statement.

A.M. Best, Oldwick, N.J., declined comment. At press time Fitch Ratings, Chicago, and Standard & Poor's Corp., New York, had not provided comment.

Should the full NAIC membership give the plan its blessing, it must still apply and be given the status of an NRSRO by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC does not indicate which organizations have or have not applied for NRSRO status, said John Heine, an SEC spokesman. The time it takes to have an application approved is individually determined by the facts of the situation, he added.

Among the requirements an NRSRO must adhere to are extensive conflict of interest requirements.

Ten companies are currently listed as NRSROs on the SEC's Web site, www.sec.gov.

Any organization that is given NRSRO status has to update its disclosure document at least annually or when there is any material change in the organization's operations, Mr. Heine said.

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Rating Agencies React To NAIC Rating Agency Plan

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