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Go git 'em, boys!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/bu...1&ref=business
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/bu...1&ref=business
The attorney general of Ohio sued the country’s largest credit rating agencies on Friday, alleging that they had cost state retirement and funds some $457 million by approving high-risk Wall Street securities that went bust in the financial collapse. The case could test whether the agencies’ ratings are constitutionally protected as a form of free speech.
The lawsuit asserts that Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch were in league with the banks and other issuers, helping to design an assortment of exotic financial instruments that led to a disastrous bubble in the housing market.
“We believe that the credit rating agencies, in exchange for fees, departed from their objective, neutral role as arbiters,” the attorney general, Richard Cordray, said at a news conference. “At minimum, they were aiding and abetting misconduct by issuers.”
He accused the companies of selling their integrity to the highest bidder.
The lawsuit asserts that Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch were in league with the banks and other issuers, helping to design an assortment of exotic financial instruments that led to a disastrous bubble in the housing market.
“We believe that the credit rating agencies, in exchange for fees, departed from their objective, neutral role as arbiters,” the attorney general, Richard Cordray, said at a news conference. “At minimum, they were aiding and abetting misconduct by issuers.”
He accused the companies of selling their integrity to the highest bidder.
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