The willingness of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec) to file a civil suit against Standard & Poor's could not go unnoticed in the world of finance. The trigger is the rating given by the rating agency in 2007 on a $1.6 billion debt-backed bond (CDO): too generous a rating, according to the government agency.
The news was announced by the New York Times quoting McGraw-Hill, owner of S&P, which announced on Monday that it had received a "wells notice", a letter that the US body sends to companies to warn them that it is considering the possibility of adopting sanctions.
A heavyweight criticism therefore adds to the ever-growing chorus of criticisms that are targeting the rating agency. Bonds backed by high-risk debt, derivative financial products built in the United States on the infamous "subprime" mortgages, are responsible for aggravating the crisis: the rating agencies are accused of having given too generous ratings, misleading small investors but also many specialized operators.
The news from the SEC also comes at a particular time for S&P, given that its parent company McGraw-Hill recently announced its intention to split into two separate companies: McGraw-Hill Markets, which will deal with financial markets, and McGraw- Hill Education, focused instead on education. This decision was anticipated by investors who would like to try to recover from the serious losses suffered since 2006 which led the company to sell more than 40%.
