The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed dropping rating references from its S-3 registration form. As an alternative to the references, the SEC will allow companies to use the simple, S-3 form for primary offerings if they issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt securities over a three-year period. In 2008, the SEC had proposed stripping the ratings, but the initiative was opposed by industry officials and the measure faded into the background during the financial crisis.

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