美国 Securities and Exchange Commission（SEC）质疑小型信评机构 Egan-Jones 是否能「一贯且具诚信地」产出信用评等，并指出其申请评等新型债务类别的文件「引发对其财务与管理资源充足性」的疑问；SEC 亦提到尚有「其他非公开资讯」支撑此疑虑。

Egan-Jones 于去年底约有 20 名分析师，却已对私人贷款发出数以千计的评等，且常被保险公司用于计算监理资本（其身分为 nationally recognised statistical rating organisation）。在私人信贷评等市场快速扩张之际，监理机关与华尔街人士愈发关注是否存在在多家供应者间「比价寻求较高评等」的行为；Apollo Global Management 执行长 Marc Rowan 去年亦表示 Athene「不使用」Egan-Jones 的评等。

监理压力亦体现在其他司法管辖区：百慕达监管机关于 1 月发布指引，将 Egan-Jones 自该国认可信评名单中移除。历史上，SEC 曾于 2013 年撤销其评等资产担保证券与政府债务的资格并禁止其评等 18 个月，源于 Egan-Jones 与其总裁 Sean Egan 就对 SEC 的重大不实陈述达成和解；SEC 当时认定其声称自 1995 年起持续对相关证券出具评等不实。Egan-Jones 反驳称其评等由投资人主要付费以维持独立性，并批评市场仍由「Big Three」Moody’s、S&P、Fitch 高度集中，且提及 2008 年危机与近期 Tricolor、First Brands Group 破产案例以主张传统机构失准。

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) questioned whether Egan-Jones can “consistently produce credit ratings with integrity,” saying its application to rate new debt classes “raises questions” about the adequacy of its financial and managerial resources; the SEC also cited other non-public information supporting these concerns.

Egan-Jones, with about 20 analysts as of late last year, has issued thousands of ratings on private loans often used by insurers to calculate regulatory capital because it is a nationally recognised statistical rating organisation. As private credit ratings have grown rapidly, regulators and Wall Street executives have increasingly flagged the risk of insurers shopping among providers for higher grades; Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan said last year that Athene “does not use” Egan-Jones ratings.

Scrutiny has spread across jurisdictions: Bermuda’s watchdog issued January guidance removing Egan-Jones from its recognised ratings-provider list. Historically, the SEC in 2013 revoked Egan-Jones’ authority to rate asset-backed securities and government debt and barred it for 18 months after the firm and president Sean Egan settled charges over material misstatements; the SEC found its claim of continuously issuing such ratings since 1995 was false. Egan-Jones argues investor-paid ratings support independence, criticises concentration among the “Big Three” (Moody’s, S&P, Fitch), and cites the 2008 crisis plus the bankruptcies of Tricolor and First Brands Group to claim legacy agencies missed key credit events.