Ed Sweeney

Ratings Shopping Revived in Asset-Backed Rebound: Credit Markets

Almost six years after the start of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, bond issuers are again exploiting credit ratings by seeking firms that will provide high grades on debt backed by assets from auto loans to office buildings considered inappropriate by rivals.

S&P, Ambac Must Face Claims by California Cities: Judge

McGraw-Hill Cos.’s Standard & Poor’s unit and Ambac Financial Group Inc. must face claims of negligent misrepresentation and unfair business practices in a lawsuit alleging they conspired to force local governments in California to purchase bond insurance they didn’t need.

S&P Credibility Seen Eroded by Complicity in Soured Deals

The mortgage-bond market that David Tesher had described as “a wildly spinning top” was about to tumble when he convened a meeting at Standard & Poor’s Water Street headquarters in New York in March 2007.

Moody’s CDO Grades in S&P Lawsuit Almost ‘Identical,’ Study Says

Moody’s Corp., the second-largest credit rating firm, issued “virtually identical” grades on the same structured products that compelled the Justice Department to sue its main competitor, Standard & Poor’s, according to researcher Height Analytics LLC.

S&P Ratings Suit, CBOE-SEC Talks, Bonuses: Compliance

The Justice Department decision to sue Standard & Poor’s has investors asking why Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings weren’t targeted for awarding the same top grades to troubled mortgage bonds and other debt securities.

SEC Reviews S&P Math, Possible Leak of Rating

The Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the method Standard & Poor’s used to cut the U.S.’s credit rating and whether the firm properly protected the confidential decision, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

S&P as Sole U.S. Target Has Wall Street Asking About Moody’s

The Justice Department decision to sue Standard & Poor’s has investors asking why Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings weren’t targeted for awarding the same top grades to troubled mortgage bonds and other debt securities.

SEC Said to Review S&P Math, Possible Leaking of U.S. Rating

The Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing the method Standard & Poor’s used to cut the U.S.’s credit rating and whether the firm properly protected the confidential decision, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

S&P Blessing Cairn Left M&T Bank With a Crumbling Pile of Losses

In March 2007, Standard & Poor’s rated $773 million of the Cairn Mezzanine III collateralized debt obligation AAA. The deal crumbled after the rating company began cutting the rankings on bonds contained in the deal three months later.

S&P Selective Disclosure Prompts Scrutiny of Who Learned Ratings Too Early

As Standard & Poor’s considered the first ratings downgrade of the world’s biggest economy in late July, some of the largest bond investors held undisclosed meetings with the firm that would ultimately strip the U.S. of its AAA grade.

New York

Justice Department

Los Angeles

Standard & Poor's

Aston Sets $4.85 Million Record, Mouse Nest DB5 $486,469

North Korea Test-Fires 3 Missiles as U.S. Sees Further Isolation

Commuter Train Wreck Injures Dozens, Curbs Amtrak Service

Republicans Unsatisfied by IRS Answers Press for More

Tesla’s Musk Channels Iacocca With Early U.S. Repayment