Credit-rating firms, whose lapses played a central role in the2008 financial crisis, will face new restrictions on conflicts ofinterest under rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC).

The rules, approved on a 3-2 vote today, require firms includingMoody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's to ensure theyfollow internal methods when grading debt and revising ratings.They will also have to boost disclosure on their accuracy,including a common way of presenting default and downgrade ratesfor bonds backed by loans for homes and commercial buildings.

Seeking to prevent graders from pandering to the bond issuers,who pay for the ratings, the rules include a strict prohibition onallowing sales motives to influence them. Firms also would have tore-examine the ratings of analysts who leave to join companieswhose products they rated.