U.S. sues S&P

[Actor]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578284064003795142.html

[ArlJim78]

there is unchecked power in Washington, the justice department is routinely used to harrass and punish those who dare go against the regime, or merely political opponents. Gibson Guitar, Aaron Swartz, S&P among others all were hounded in some cases to death.
others are merely called out by name and scorned by the president himself. Koch Bros, Limbaugh, Fox, etc.

I'm old enough to remember back when the left was against government tyranny, and fought against "the man" and abuse of power. good times, good times.

[mostpost]

there is unchecked power in Washington, the justice department is routinely used to harrass and punish those who dare go against the regime, or merely political opponents. Gibson Guitar, Aaron Swartz, S&P among others all were hounded in some cases to death.
others are merely called out by name and scorned by the president himself. Koch Bros, Limbaugh, Fox, etc.

I'm old enough to remember back when the left was against government tyranny, and fought against "the man" and abuse of power. good times, good times.

So you think it was OK for S & P to issue falsely high rates of mortgage securities so that banks could sell them for more than they were actually worth. That is fraud where I come from. This is a move that is long overdue.

[rastajenk]

Do you think racetrack touts should be tried for fraud?

[Robert Goren]

Do you think racetrack touts should be tried for fraud?yes

[Actor]

Do you think racetrack touts should be tried for fraud?No. They should be tarred, feathered and released into the wild. :lol:

[therussmeister]

Do you think racetrack touts should be tried for fraud?
They should merely be ignored.

[mostpost]

Do you think racetrack touts should be tried for fraud?
Comparing Standard & Poors to racetrack touts is foolish. Standard and Poors is a financial services agency that many people look to when deciding whether to invest in a security. If S & P is rating a security higher than it should be rated, then people will invest in that security when they would have passed it by had they had an honest evaluation. Few people trust a tout. People should be able to trust that S & P's ratings are fair. Otherwise there is no point to having an S & P or a Moodys.

[Valuist]

I don't know anyone can think S & P and Moody's have any credibility at all. They completely whiffed on the housing crisis. Not just a called third strike; more like a hitter who gets pretzeled and falls down.

[rastajenk]

Does that make what they did, or do, criminal?

[Robert Goren]

Does that make what they did, or do, criminal?Depends on what they did. If they knew the securities were bad and rated them AAA so the client could sell them, then the answer is yes. Remember in this case the seller pays S&P to rate them. Many the buyers would not have bought them, if they had not been rated AAA either because law or company policy. In other words. how honest was their mistake. Now that is going to be up to a jury to decide. This going to be long trial and even longer appeals process. Just hope you don't get picked for the jury. We are probably talking at least a 6 month trial unless a plea bargain is reached.

[Valuist]

Does that make what they did, or do, criminal?

Like Goren said, it certainly could be considered that. I don't know if it was intentional, or just plain incompetence.

[plainolebill]

Snippet.....If Arthur Anderson received the ultimate penalty for their part in the Enron and other fraud, I see no reason why Moody’s and S&P don’t suffer the same fate — plus criminal prosecution for senior management.

Its time to re-establish the rule of law in this country.


From the Big Picture - Barry Ritholtz (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/02/why-the-ratings-agencies-deserve-the-death-penalty/)

[riskman]

Does that make what they did, or do, criminal?

I beleive this is a civil suit.The U.S. Attorneys is accusing S&P of defrauding a federally insured institution (Wescorp now bankrupt) a credit union in Los Angelos.The government contends S&P defrauded a federal insured institution and therefore injuring the taxpayer.

[rastajenk]

The government threatened criminal action when negotiating some kind of "settlement." I suspect the real criminals are in the Justice Department.