By now you will have heard that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a securities class action lawsuit against S&P and its corporate parent, McGraw-Hill, about the rating agency’s ratings of collateralized debt obligations as the subprime meltdown unfolded. A copy of the DoJ’s complaint, filed on February 4, 2013 in the Central District of
rating agencies
Australian Court: S&P Liable for Negligent Misrepresentations in Complex Financial Instrument Triple-A Rating
Though many include the rating agencies among the list of culprits that contributed to the global financial crisis, the rating agencies have up until now largely dodged attempts to hold them liable. While there have been a small number of cases (refer for example here) where courts have denied the motions of rating agencies to…
Rating Agencies Must Face Fraud Claims for Toxic SIV Ratings
In the latest development in the long-running investor lawsuit involving the collapsed Cheyne Financial structured investment vehicle, Southern District of New York Judge Shira Scheindlin has held that the rating agency defendants in the case must face the investors’ claims for common law fraud under New York law. A copy of Judge Scheindlin’s August 17…
Rating Agencies Must Defend Negligent Misrepresentation Claims for Toxic SIV Ratings
The rating agencies must defend against claims for negligent misrepresentation in connection with the ratings the firms assigned to a pair of structured investments vehicles, Southern District of New York Judge Shira Scheindlin has ruled in a pair of May 4, 2012 decisions. Judge Scheindlin did grant the defendants’ motions to dismiss claims for negligence, breach…
Second Circuit Holds Rating Agencies Cannot Be Held Liable as ’33 Act Underwriters
In a May 11, 2011 opinion (here), a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of rating agency defendants in litigation filed under the Securities Act of 1933 and involving mortgage-related securities issues by Lehman Brothers and IndyMac and the Residential Asset Securitization Trust (RUST). The Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s…
Another Court Rejects Rating Agencies’ First Amendment Defense
The rating agencies have been among the targets in many of the lawsuits filed as part of the subprime-related litigation wave. By and large, the rating agencies have been successful in knocking out these cases in the early stages, particularly the lawsuits seeking to hold them liable as "underwriters" under the federal securities laws.
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Perspective on the Senate Financial Reform Bill
On May 20, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S. 3217) by a vote of 59 to 39. The Senate websites latest version of the Bill can be found here, and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s link to the most current version can be…
Court Rejects Rating Agencies’ Argument that Credit Crisis Alone Caused Investor Losses
In a April 26, 2010 opinion (here) that could have significant implications for motions to dismiss in the many subprime-related securities actions pending against the rating agencies, Southern District of New York Judge Schira Scheindlin rejected the arguments of Moody’s and S&P that the action investors in the Rhinebridge structured investment vehicle (SIV)…
Rating Agencies’ Alleged Conflicts of Interest Held Immaterial
In a ruling that may have potential significance for the many claims that have been filed against the rating agencies in the subprime litigation wave, on February 17, 2010, Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed all but one of the claims that had been filed against the individual defendants in the Lehman…
Rating Agencies Are Not ’33 Act “Underwriters”
Rating agencies are not susceptible to ’33 Act liability as "underwriters," even if they helped structure the mortgage backed securities at issue, according to February 1, 2010 ruling (here) by Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan in which he dismissed Moody’s and McGraw-Hill (S&P’s parent) from the Lehman Brothers Mortgage-Backed Securities…