The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has released a report detailing weaknesses it uncovered in examinations of the three major credit rating agencies.

The SEC examined Fitch Ratings Ltd., Moody’s Investor Services Inc., and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services to evaluate whether they are adhering to their published methodologies for determining ratings and managing conflicts of interest.

Among other things, it found that rating agencies, “struggled significantly with the increase in the number and complexity of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations deals since 2002. The examinations uncovered that none of the rating agencies examined had specific written comprehensive procedures for rating RMBS and CDOs. Furthermore, significant aspects of the rating process were not always disclosed or even documented by the firms, and conflicts of interest were not always managed appropriately.”

It also sets out the need for remedial action by the firms to provide meaningful ratings and the necessary levels of disclosure to investors. Last month, the SEC proposed a set of reforms to regulate the conflicts of interests, disclosures, internal policies, and business practices of credit rating agencies.

“We’ve uncovered serious shortcomings at these firms, including a lack of disclosure to investors and the public, a lack of policies and procedures to manage the rating process, and insufficient attention to conflicts of interest,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox in a release. “When the firms didn’t have enough staff to do the job right, they often cut corners. That’s the bad news. There’s also good news. And that’s that the problems are being fixed in real time. The recent events affecting our economy and our markets have galvanized regulators around the world to re-examine the regulatory framework governing credit rating agencies, but ultimately the responsibility for providing meaningful ratings to investors begins with the credit rating firms themselves.”