Tag Archives: Moody's

Hey, Rating Agencies: Too Bad We Can’t Downgrade You!

There are many aspects of the debt ceiling talks that are untoward. The political posturing. The lack of compromise. The somewhat terrifying reality that the U.S. might not be able to pay its bills.

But one part of the whole affair is really irritating: the righteous indignation of the rating agencies.

+Wall Street & Markets | 725 days ago

Moody’s CEO gives himself a performance review and decides he’s doing an OK job

By Barbara Kiviat

Yesterday I went to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission‘s hearing on ratings companies.* My story is supposed to go up on Time.com later today. (UPDATE: here it is now.) In the meantime, I’d like to share the most absurd moment from yesterday’s hearing. One line of questioning revolved around how managers are compensated at Moody’s. Are [...]

+Economy & Policy | 744 days ago

Congress mans up on rating agency reform

By Barbara Kiviat

[Editor's note: I wrote a story for Time.com, which is now being funneled here, to the Curious Capitalist. I might have assumed a bit more knowledge had I known it was going to wind up with you, dear readers.] Credit ratings companies played a key role in the financial crisis by blessing the packages of [...]

+Wall Street & Markets | 765 days ago

Congress drops the ball on ratings agency reform

By Barbara Kiviat

Today the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on the role credit ratings agencies played in the financial crisis. These are the companies that gave high marks to securitization deals, like the one Goldman Sachs is currently being sued over, even though the underlying collateral—namely, home loans—was pretty much crap. As today’s hearing [...]