No matter that bogus, inflated ratings were a major cause of the financial collapse or that S&P is fighting a government lawsuit for doing so, they’re doing it again, says new analysis.
Five years after inflated credit ratings helped touch off the financial crisis, the nation’s largest ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, is winning business again by offering more favorable ratings.
S.& P. has been giving higher grades than its big rivals to certain mortgage-backed securities just as Wall Street is eagerly trying to revive the market for these investments.