by Calculated Risk on 4/23/2010 03:34:00 PM
Friday, April 23, 2010
Rating Agency Testimony: "Must say yes" to Wall Street
From Kevin Hall at McClatchy Newspapers: Executives testify: Bond-rating agencies corrupted themselves
Testifying under oath before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, officials who were closely involved in giving investment-grade ratings to complex financial instruments backed by shaky U.S. mortgages described how they were pressured to give Wall Street what it wanted.The testimony is pretty amazing, but how is this being fixed?
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Called to appear before the panel, Richard Michalek, a former Moody's vice president and senior credit officer, described the ratings process for deals that could bring more than $1 million in fees as a "must say yes" atmosphere.