The US Justice Department’s lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s (S&P) over subprime structured finance ratings, launched in February 2013, leaves many unanswered questions. Not least, why has it taken so long to act since the mass downgrades of subprime securities in 2007?
Neither of the other large agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, has yet been charged. And while all three had a commercial incentive to keep the subprime bandwagon rolling, none earned anything close to the fees generated by the investment banks who were packaging the securities themselves.
