Thursday, August 18, 2011

Federal investigators probing Standard & Poor's top ratings on mortgage products: report

BY Mike Jaccarino
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, August 18th 2011, 1:06 AM

The Standard & Poor's building on Water St. in New York City.
Carolina Hidalgo for News
The Standard & Poor's building on Water St. in New York City.

Federal investigators are probing if Standard & Poor's wrongly lavished top AAA credit ratings on mortgage products that didn't deserve such high marks at the height of the housing bubble, The New York Times reports.

For years, large financial institutions bundled residential mortgages into complex financial instruments that were then sold to investors looking for a solid and predictable rate of return.

Banks and firms paid rating agencies, like S&P, to slap ratings on the bundled mortgages to make them palatable to investors. In many cases, those products withered in value as the U.S. housing market tanked.

The investigation began before the nation's largest ratings company downgraded the nation's credit grade on Aug. 5.

The Times cited two people interviewed by the Justice Department and a third person with knowledge of those conversations in reporting the probe late Wednesday night.

at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 2, 2013 at 1:34 AM

    The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad
    and tested to see if it can survive a forty foot drop, just
    so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has
    83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!


    Feel free to surf to my page :: how to get rid of stretch marks

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 3, 2013 at 1:33 AM

    If you desire to grow your familiarity only keep visiting this web page and be updated with the latest news posted
    here.

    my blog :: Family reunion survival Kit Ideas

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 5, 2013 at 5:56 PM

    Somebody necessarily assist to make critically articles I'd state. This is the first time I frequented your website page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to make this actual publish amazing. Magnificent job!

    My web-site ... stretch mark removal and home remedy

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 9, 2013 at 7:06 PM

    I think the admin of this web site is in fact working hard in favor of
    his web page, for the reason that here every material is
    quality based stuff.

    Here is my web blog: laser stretch mark removal

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 11, 2013 at 5:41 AM

    Thanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for
    your further post thanks once again.

    My web blog ... stretch mark removal and home remedy

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 21, 2013 at 6:39 AM

    If you are going for best contents like me, simply
    pay a visit this web page everyday since it provides quality contents, thanks

    Here is my site :: how to get rid of stretch marks

    ReplyDelete