WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and

Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged six credit rating

agencies with "significant recordkeeping failures."

The agencies are Moody's Investors Service ( MCO ), S&P

Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings, HR Ratings de Mexico,

A.M. Best Rating Services and Demotech.

The SEC said the agencies acknowledged that their conduct

violated recordkeeping provisions of federal securities laws and

agreed to pay combined civil penalties of more than $49 million.