India’s Brickwork Ratings said it is considering “appropriate legal recourse” after the country’s market regulator ordered the credit rating firm to wind down operations within six months, citing repeated lapses and violations.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in a rare order on Thursday cancelled Brickwork’s registration certificate and prevented it from taking on new business.

The regulator said multiple probes found violations such as delay in recognition of default of non-convertible debentures and failure to review ratings even after receiving information about delayed payments.

“Brickwork Ratings finds the recent allegations to be a shocking development,” it said in a statement late on Friday, adding it had taken “timely course correction measures” in line with regulatory instructions.

“The rating agency is fully cooperating with the authorities to ensure all compliances are satisfactorily met. In parallel, the company is also considering appropriate legal recourse in the matter,” it said.

Sebi did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

The regulator has said it investigated Brickworks on several occasions and had undertaken a joint inspection with the Reserve Bank.

Sebi has been tightening disclosure rules for credit rating agencies since 2016 in a bid to boost transparency and accountability after a number of sudden sharp changes to corporate ratings.

According to the company statement, Sebi’s suggestions pursuant to prior inspections had always been taken in the right spirit and that the company has implemented robust software development to address some of the issues.

“Brickwork Ratings has always striven to ensure compliance to the highest standards in its rating practices with strong internal checks and balances throughout,” it added.