Six credit rating agencies have admitted to wrongdoing and agreed to pay penalties totalling more than $49 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges.

The SEC said the charges were “for significant failures by the firms and their personnel to maintain and preserve electronic communications”.

The organisation, an independent federal agency established in 1934 to regulate the US securities markets and protect investors, said the firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders, acknowledged that their conduct violated record keeping provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed to pay combined civil penalties of more than $49 million, and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address these violations.

The firms and their civil penalties are: Moody’s Investors Service Inc, $20 million; S&P Global Ratings, $20 million; Fitch Ratings Inc, $8 million; HR Ratings de México, SA de CV, $250,000; AM Best Rating Services Inc, $1 million; and Demotech Inc, $100,000.

The SEC said: “Each of the credit rating agencies, with the exception of AM Best and Demotech, is also required to retain a compliance consultant.

“AM Best and Demotech engaged in significant efforts to comply with the record keeping requirements relatively early as registered credit rating agencies and otherwise co-operated 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.”

Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said: “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.

“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 co-operate with the staff’s investigations.”

The SEC said each of the six firms was charged with violating section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 17g-2(b)(7) thereunder. In addition to significant financial penalties, each credit rating agency was ordered to cease and desist from future violations of these provisions and was censured.

The SEC said the four firms ordered to retain compliance consultants have agreed to, among other things, conduct comprehensive reviews of their policies and procedures relating to the retention of electronic communications found on their personnel’s personal devices and their respective frameworks for addressing non-compliance by their personnel with those policies and procedures.