“Morningstar failed to disclose that its CMBS rating methodology permitted its analysts to adjust those stresses on a ‘loan-specific’ basis,” the SEC said in the complaint. “This omission was material.”

Morningstar Credit Ratings, or MCR, hasn’t used those methods to rate CMBS transactions since 2017 and ended the practice a year later, the company said in an emailed statement.

“The SEC alleges technical violations of the rules that formerly applied to MCR when it was a credit rating agency,” the company said. “In fact, MCR complied with the regulatory requirements in question; the SEC’s position in this case is inconsistent with its own rules and the SEC’s stated policies. ”

In September, Kroll Bond Rating Agency Inc. agreed to pay more than $2 million to the SEC to settle claims that its internal controls failed to prevent inconsistencies in CMBS and collateralized loan obligation ratings.