Rating Agencies

Fitch Lowers Outlook On U.S. Credit Rating

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 01.28.2012

Read More: Credit Ratings, Congress, Deficit Cuts, Moody's Investors Services, Federal Budget Deficit, Spending Cuts, Rating Agencies, Supercommittee, Standard & Poor's, Fitch, AAA Rating, Business News

WASHINGTON — Fitch said Monday that it will keep its rating for long-term U.S. debt at the top AAA level, despite a congressional panel's failur...

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Are Rating Agencies Acting in the Name of God?

Georges Ugeux | Posted 10.08.2011

Read More: US Rating, Rating Agencies, US Credit Rating, Credit Rating Agencies, Standard & Poor's, U.S. Credit Rating, Credit Rating, US Credit Downgrade, Business News
Georges Ugeux

There is something fundamentally wrong in the rating agencies' approach: they unilaterally redefined their role from doing their job -- assessing the ability of sovereign issuers to service their debt -- to rating countries.

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Poor Standards: 4 Steps to Ending the Rating "Agency" Racket

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 10.08.2011

Read More: Moody's, Standard & Poor, Rating Aracket, Rating Agencies, Business News
Richard (RJ) Eskow

S&P's agenda has appeared to be political for a long time, and it looks as if its retrofitting its "analysis" yet again to mirror the austerity economics goals of its paymasters. Here are four steps to end that racket now.

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Wow, What a Week!

Lydia Fisher | Posted 10.06.2011

Read More: National Debt, Eurozone Crisis, Financial Crisis, US-Debt-Downgrade, Rating Agencies, S&p Downgrade, Credit Downgrade U.S., Standard & Poor's Downgrade, U.S. Credit Downgrade, Business News
Lydia Fisher

It remains to be seen how the markets will adjust to the S&P downgrade, whether our creditors will demand higher rates. For now, matters "across the pond" appear worse.

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Debt Ceiling Battle Offers House Republicans Untold Leverage

David Paul | Posted 09.16.2011

Read More: European Debt Crisis, Tea Party Movement, 14th Amendment, Mitch McConnell, Michael Milken, Debt Ceiling, Federal Budget Deficit, Orange County, Standard & Poor's, Rating Agencies, Barack Obama, House Republicans, Treasury Bonds, Moody's, Business News
David Paul

Both the President and Senate leaders believe that the fear of default should provide enough motivation to get something done. But so far, the House leadership is not biting.

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Reforming Sovereign Ratings: An Urgent and Complex Undertaking

Georges Ugeux | Posted 09.14.2011

Read More: Investment Banks, Transparency, Debt, Reforms, Shareholders, Soverien Governments, European Commission, Credit, Governance, Michel Barnier, Banks, Rating Agencies, Portugal, Sovereign Ratings, Risk, Business News
Georges Ugeux

Rating agencies are in an inextricable situation when it comes to sovereign ratings. On the heels of their near-collapse of structured products, they must confront the issue of the credibility of sovereign ratings in a holistic way.

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William Alden

Rating Agencies Repeatedly Caved To Banks' Demands And Helped Cause Crisis, Report Finds

HuffingtonPost.com | William Alden | Posted 06.14.2011

Read More: Carl Levin Report, Investment Banks, Tom Coburn, Moody's Investor Services, Economic Crisis, Business News, Financial Crisis, Rating Agencies, Standard and Poor's Ratings, Carl Levin, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Business News

NEW YORK -- The major credit rating agencies repeatedly sold out to Wall Street banks, so addicted to short-term profits that they sacrificed the accu...

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Fixing FUBAR: Next Week in Washington D.C.

Janet Tavakoli | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Financial Housing Finance Agency, Fhfa, Foreclosure Fraud, Moody?S, Financial Reform, Fitch, Standard & Poor?S, Rating Agencies, Business News
Janet Tavakoli

None of the issues I'll talk about next week at the Federal Housing Finance Agency's summit is new, and "financial reform" is late to the party and dead on arrival.

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An S.E.C. Lawsuit Does Little to Strip Away the Secrecy Surrounding Certain AIG CDOs

David Fiderer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Ubs, Goldman Sachs, Federal Bailouts, Cdos, Hedge Funds, AIG Bailout, Rating Agencies, Aig, Banks, Credit Rating Agencies, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, Collateralized Debt Obligations, Moody's, Business News
David Fiderer

A month ago, the S.E.C. alleged in a complaint that Thomas C. Priore's firm made all sorts of fraudulent transfers for the benefit of himself and ICP, at the expense of investors in the Triaxx CDOs.

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Euro Crisis: EU About To Experience An American-Style Credit Crunch

McClatchy | Kevin G. Hall | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: EU Lending, EU Economy, EU Prices, European Union, Rating Agencies, EU Debt Crisis, Eu, European Bonds, Credit Crunch, Business News

Q: Isn't this reminiscent of the turbulent fall of 2008? A: Yes. The fear gripping Europe is leading to a rise in short-term lending rates, and tha...

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What Goldman-Sachs CEO Should Have Told Congress

Richard Greener | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, Senate, Congress, Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Fraud, Ceos, Rating Agencies, Constitution, Business News
Richard Greener

Perhaps Robert V. Marrow ought to consider a career on Wall Street. Better yet, isn't there a Senatorial election coming up in New York? Either way, it appears the public would be better served than it is today.

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Let's Dump The Rating Agencies

Jerry Chautin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Citigroup, Investors, Triple A, Financing, Franchise, Rating Agencies, Junk Rating, Congress, Euro, Real Estate, Fiduciary, Fitch, Goldman Sachs, Investment Rating, Wall Street, Borrowing Money, Business News, Institutional Investors, Junk Bonds, Portugal, S&P, Aaa, Spain, Moody?S, FInancial Markets, Greece, Business News
Jerry Chautin

The time has come to recognize that rating agencies are research firms, and they are not deities endowed with inalienable rights to dictate the quality of investments.

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Goldman Sachs: a Hedge Fund Managed by Traders?

Georges Ugeux | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lloyd Blankfein, Congress, Senate Finance Committee, Bank Balance Sheets, Too Big to Fail, Shorts, Federal Reserve, Bank Holding Companies, Senators, Investment Banks, Goldman Sachs, Hedge Funds, Risk-Management, Trader, Securities, Rating Agencies, Credit Agencies, Bonuses, Business News
Georges Ugeux

What became completely obvious for all the world to see is that Goldman Sachs is a hedge fund, and that it is only interested in clients as screens for their own proprietary trading activities.

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Ratigan: Dodd's Financial Reform Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough (VIDEO)

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Financial Reform Bill, Finance, Financial Crisis, Dylan Ratigan Senate, Banks, Dodd Bill, Chris Dodd, Wall Street, Rating Agencies, Video, Politics News

Dylan Ratigan ridiculed the Senate's financial reform bill Thursday and argued that it wasn't enough to protect the country from another financial col...

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Six Key Fights for Wall Street Reform's Next Phase

Zach Carter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Freddie Mac, Conference Committee, Maria Cantwell, Derivatives, Financial Reform, Prop Trading, Leverage, The Fed, Break Up the Banks, Volcker Rule, Fannie Mae, Merkley-Levin, Aig, Proprietary Trading, Wall Street Reform, Tbtf, Bailout, Federal Reserve, Resolution Authority, Bank Bailout, Wall Street Bailout, Too Big to Fail, Audit the Fed, Fed Audit, Tarp, Rating Agencies, Business News
Zach Carter

Thursday night's passage of Wall Street reform is an event to be celebrated, but several key issues remain in play as the House and Senate iron out differences between their respective versions of the legislation.

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An Interview With Joseph Stiglitz -- Regulation and the Euro Zone

Lia Petridis Maiello | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Financial Transaction Tax, Wall Street, Joseph Stiglitz, Rating Agencies, Eurozone, US Debt, Social Movements, Regulation, Free Fall, Financial Crisis, Greece, FInancial Markets, Business News
Lia Petridis Maiello

Stiglitz explains the future of the Euro Zone, how it was possible to create a moral vacuum on Wall Street, why US citizens do not take their anger to the streets and how the US should follow Greece and start regulating now.

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Andrew Cumo Investigating Whether Banks Duped Rating Agencies

AP | STEPHEN BERNARD | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Bank of America, Rating Agencies, Banks, Sec, Standard, Moodys Investors Service, Citigroup, Business News

NEW YORK — New York's attorney general has launched an investigation into eight banks to determine whether they misled ratings agencies about mo...

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A Reasonable Case For Regulation

Rep. Jackie Speier | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sec, Lehman Brothers, Financial Services Committee, Regulation, Rating Agencies, Moody's, Fitch, Standard & Poor, Financial Regulation, Jackie Speier, California, Politics News
Rep. Jackie Speier

How would you feel if you discovered that a highly-rated bond received its grade not because the company is strong, but because the rating agency assumed the government would bail the company out?

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Bill Supposed To Tighten Rules On Ratings Agencies Has Big Loopholes

McClatchy | Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Standard, Moody's Investors Service, Wall Street, Wall Street Regulation, Ratings Agencies, Economy, Economic Crisis, Financial Crisis, Rating Agencies, Global Financial Crisis, Financial Regulation, House Financial Services Committee, Investors, Business News

A key House of Representatives committee is set to vote soon on legislation that would overhaul financial regulation and produce greater transparency ...

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Despite Financial Crisis, Credit Rating Agencies Skirt Overhaul

nytimes.com | DAVID SEGAL | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wall Street, Economy, Economic Crisis, Standard and Poor, Rating Agencies, Credit Rating Agencies, Big Three Credit Rating Agencies, Financial Crisis, Credit Rating, Moody's, Business News

When the financial crisis began, few players on Wall Street looked more ripe for reform than the Big Three credit rating agencies... So as Washing...

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Raiting Agencies Escape Overhaul In Recent Bill

ft.com | Joanna Chung and Aline van Duyn in New York | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: S, Moody's, Rating Agencies, Business News

Credit rating agencies would face a raft of new disclosure rules and restrictions but would not be forced to overhaul their business models under prop...

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