FACTBOX-List of 10 rating agencies recognized by US SEC

June 24 (Reuters) - Credit rating agencies were blamed for exacerbating the credit crisis but got off lightly in new U.S. plans to overhaul the financial sector. For story see [ID:nN24197475].

Below is information about the 10 agencies designated as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Moody's Investors Service

- Owned by Moody's Corp (MCO.N).

- The oldest credit ratings agency, and the first (with S&P) to become an NRSRO in 1975.

- Became a public company in 2000, and has been consistently hugely profitable: profit margins averaged 53 percent from 2000 to 2007.

- Has been roundly criticized for role in giving structured finance products top rating. Structured finance products was its top source of revenue by 2000, leading to criticism of moral hazard.

Standard & Poor

- Owned by McGraw-Hill Inc (MHP.N).

- Publishes a number of stock market indices including the S&P 500, one of the most watched indices in the world.

- McGraw-Hill reported a net profit margin of 12.6 percent for 2008.

Fitch

- part of the Fitch Group, a subsidiary of Paris-based Fimalac S.A FIM.PA.

- Was the third agency to become an NRSRO in 1975. From 1975 to 1992, four other agencies were recognized as NRSROs and all subsequently merged with Fitch.

- By far the smallest of the big three but gained market share in recent years by positioning itself as a "tie-breaker" between the two others.

- Was criticized in the aftermath of the crisis for wooing issuers away from the other two through more lenient ratings.