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The major credit rating agencies are the latest firms to face allegations they violated recordkeeping requirements by failing to capture personal texting and WhatsApp chats by their employees.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it settled enforcement proceedings against six rating agencies, including Moody’s Investors Service Inc., S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, that will see them pay a combined US$49 million to resolve allegations they violated securities rules by failing to preserve electronic communications records.

Moody’s and S&P each agreed to pay US$20 million, and Fitch agreed to pay US$8 million to resolve the SEC’s allegations.

Three other ratings firms, A.M. Best Rating Services Inc., HR Ratings de México S.A. de C.V., and Demotech Inc., agreed to pay US$1 million, US$250,000 and US$100,000, respectively.

All the rating agencies, except A.M. Best and Demotech, are also required to retain a compliance consultant under the settlements and to review their policies and procedures on the retention of electronic communications found on employees’ personal devices, and their approach to enforcing compliance with those policies.

“A.M. Best and Demotech engaged in significant efforts to comply with the recordkeeping requirements relatively early as registered credit rating agencies and otherwise cooperated with the SEC’s investigations, and, as a result, they will not be required to retain a compliance consultant under the terms of their settlements,” the SEC said.

In settling the allegations, the firms admitted to violating the recordkeeping rules.

The SEC has previously taken similar actions against a number of major global investment banks and other firms.

“We have seen repeatedly that failures to maintain and preserve required records can hinder the staff’s ability to ensure that firms are complying with their obligations and the commission’s ability to hold accountable those that fall short of those obligations, often at the expense of investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC’s enforcement division, in a release.

“In today’s actions, the commission once again makes clear that there are tangible benefits to firms that make significant efforts to comply and otherwise cooperate with the staff’s investigations,” he said.